Guys and Dolls
by Sarcasma
Summary: All the world's a stage... including Hogwarts. Stress, fun, and private lessons occur when a student decides to put on a musical. Please Read and Review :
1. The Call Board

Disclaimer: Not my characters... and Guys and Dolls doesn't belong to me either.

Chapter 1- The Call board

Ginny walked through the portrait hole after a long day of classes to see a bright green flyer, which had recently been attached to the Gryffindor bulletin board. She went over with mild curiosity to see what the latest announcement was. A smile slowly came to her lips as she read through the details and went up to her dormitory to put her bags down. When she entered the common room once more, Ginny scanned the room to see her brother and two friends sitting in a corner looking over some papers. Quickly she went over to them. "Did you three see?" Ginny asked.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked up at Ginny. "See what?" Ron asked.

"The announcement," Ginny said with a smile.

"About the play? Yes," Hermione answered.

"And?" Ginny said, finding herself a seat. "Are any of you trying out?"

Ron scoffed. "No," he said as Hermione answered 'yes'. "You… you are?"

"Well, there aren't many extra curricular activities here that I can put down on my applications for Muggle Universities," Hermione pointed out.

"You're going to Muggle school after you graduate," asked Harry as he had never thought of that possibility.

"Of course I am," Hermione said. "How can you really make it in this world without having as much education as you—"

"So back to the play," Ron said, turning his attention before the long-winded lecture started up. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm auditioning of course," Ginny said.

Ron looked incredulous. "It's a musical, Ginny," Ron pointed out.

"Yeah? And your point would be?"

"Do you sing?" Harry asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Of course I sing. Would I audition for a musical if I couldn't sing?"

Ron looked skeptical at this. "I've never heard you sing before."

"Just because I don't serenade you, Ron, doesn't mean I can't sing."

"Don't worry about them, Ginny," Hermione stood up. "What are you going to do for auditions?"

"I don't know. Do you think we have to use Muggle monologues since it's a Muggle play?" Ginny asked as she sat and made herself comfortable.

Ron looked up from his paper. "What play?"

"Guy and Dolls," Harry said. "Interesting, though, that they are doing something Muggle, don't you think?"

"Don't you two know anything?" Hermione asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Apparently not," Ron said, earning himself a look from Hermione.

Once she was done glaring at Ron, Hermione answered. "It's Hannah Abbot's project for Muggle studies. She's always liked the theatre, and decided it would make a good final. Wanted to bring culture to Hogwarts."

"Who needs culture?" Ron said as he leaned back, placing his dirty shoes on the table top and hands behind his head.

"Right," Harry said, not following his lead. "So… you two are auditioning then?"

"Yes, I think so," Hermione said.

Ginny started getting giddy at the idea. "I saw the part listings. I think I'm going to try for Sarah Brown."

"You know Cho's going for that too," Hermione warned.

"Cho's auditioning?" Harry asked. It was true that things hadn't exactly 'clicked' as he had hoped, but Harry had eventually found himself wanting once more. It seemed that any girl he even thought about developing an interest towards paled in comparison to Cho. Ever since Michael and Cho had broken things off, Ron was constantly trying to keep Harry in tow to help Harry avoid asking her out again.

"Sure, why wouldn't she?" Ginny asked. "She's one of the most popular girls in Ravenclaw… she'll probably get the part too," Ginny said with a feeling of dejectedness. Cho was in her seventh year and Ginny had no doubt Hannah would give her whatever part she requested.

Ron looked between Harry—who seemed to be calculating something—and Ginny. "Well, you're one of the most popular girls in Gryffindor, and much better than Cho," Ron said. "Don't you think Harry?" he pushed. Harry came out of his stupor and tried racking his brain for what had been said. "Isn't Ginny better than Cho?" Ron supplied.

"Oh, right, yeah," Harry said. "I'm sure you'll do brilliant at auditions."

"What about you, Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"I just want a chorus part," Hermione said.

"Chorus?" Ron asked with a confused expression. "There's a choir thingy?"

"Well, sort of," Hermione gave in to his interesting description. "There are certain people who act as background… they just sing and whatnot."

"Why nothing more?" Ginny asked. "I'm sure you could get a good part."

"No," Hermione said. "Besides, if I'm in the chorus, I won't have to give up too much time at rehearsals. I can study more."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Oh joy."

"Why don't you try out Ron?" Ginny asked.

"Oh no, you're not looping me in," Ron said with certainty.

"But you sing so well," Ginny said honestly.

"You sing?" Hermione and Harry asked in unison.

Ron really did enjoy singing… that was until Fred and George learned how to make a potion that would make the consumer croak. Ron had been about to sing for his great aunt and uncle's anniversary party when the twins had decided to 'test' it out. Ever since, Ron had refused to sing in public. "I don't want to talk about it," Ron said as he started feeling sick at remembering what had happened.

"Come on, Ron, you've got to audition," Ginny begged.

"No," he repeated. "But you two have fun." With that Ron stood, picking up his books and papers with him.

Harry stood a moment later. "I think I'm going to head up too… Hermione?" he asked as a second thought, facing his friend.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Do you…er—" Harry scratched the back of his head and looked down, mumbling something.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"Do you," Harry looked around and mumbled again, only slightly more clear. "Do you have any monologues I could use?"

Hermione smiled at her friend. "Sure."

With that Harry took a deep breath and started walking up the steps, wondering if he shouldn't audition, in risk of embarrassing himself. What if, though, this was his chance. Hermione didn't say anything about Marietta. Maybe, just maybe Cho would see how much better being around him was and ditch her friend. It was a thought Harry couldn't help wishing. Cho was the vision he continued to see even after the abrupt ending to their relationship. It was more the idea of Cho, the distant Cho, the one that he never really had. That was how Hermione saw it, at least, and how she explained to Ron.

Harry's attention was turned from Cho, however, as he heard quite a row going on between Dean and Ron. "Just stay away from her then," Ron said.

Harry opened the door and proceeded with caution, noticing the shade of red on Ron's face. "Why? You know, you've been against us since you found out… I don't get it."

"Don't say 'us', it's disgusting," Ron said. Dean looked as if he had just been slapped across the face and was ready to attack the offender. "And it would have been nice to just be told instead of 'finding out'."

"Well, I'm auditioning either way," Dean said firmly and passed Harry without acknowledgement to exit the room. Seamus, who had been sitting on the bed watching, followed, also without a word to Harry.

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

Ron threw a book onto the floor and sat on his bed. "Dean wants to audition and get a leading role opposite Ginny," he said with distaste.

"But they broke up… didn't they?"

"Yeah, but apparently he realized how stupid he was to dump her," Ron said. "Bloody git… he should go fall in a hole with Malfoy."

"Come on, Ron, he's not that bad," Harry pointed out.

"So? If he thinks I'm going to allow him to break Ginny's heart again, he's sorely mistaken." Once Ron was on a roll, there was almost no getting him off.

"I thought it was mutual."

"Didn't you notice Ginny after that 'mutual decision'?" Ron asked. He turned and started to straighten the bedding. "No, I guess you wouldn't," he mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.

Ron stopped for a moment, looked as if he were going to explain himself, then turned and started towards the door. "Nothing, let's go eat."

Harry stood with a 'what-the-hell-just-happened' expression before shrugging it off and following Ron back down to the common room to head for dinner.

* * *

A/N: I know this is a short chapter, but it's more the intro to a play within a play. I will be using some lyrics from the musical in later chapters, but it will mostly be my own storyline. Hope you all enjoy!

Oh, and just a little side note: REVIEW!


	2. Running the Gauntlet

Chapter 2- Running the Gauntlet

Harry arrived at the large auditorium that had been set up by Dumbledore for this occasion. "And for many other plays, I hope," Dumbledore said at dinner the previous night.

The stage seemed plain. It was black and you could see the cat walk and all the elements that were still in the works. The seating seemed complete; dark burgundy plush chairs in rows around the entire hall.

"Isn't it great?" Ginny asked Harry excitedly as he sat next to Hermione.

"Yeah," Harry said, taking the scene in again. "When did they do this?"

"A couple weeks ago," Hermione said with a large secretive smile. "They let the Prefects help," she whispered on a side note.

From the stage, a girl in blonde pigtails stood and cleared her throat. Everyone's attention turned to her as she started to speak softly. "Good afternoon," she said with a small smile. "My name is Hannah Abbott, for those of you who don't know me, and I'll be directing Guys and Dolls. For those of you who don't know about the play, it's a musical comedy by Frank Loesser, Joe Swerling and Abe Burrows. It takes place in New York in the era of the 1940's, so I'd ask that all of you try to do your best American accent, New York if possible, of course." There were many groans and much chattering about the sudden request. "There's a charm Professor Flitwick will help us use for most of you, but it's unreliable, so I need to know if you can cover it up when you have to."

"Oh well," Draco muttered confidently as he leaned back with a smirk. "Just one more advantage I have, I suppose."

Harry scowled at the back of Draco's head, wondering how much more embarrassing this would be now. "Everything else will run normally. We'll just start on this first row and make our way around. If you have to be at a club or detention, just let me know and you can go first."

Two or three people approached the stage and had a word with Hannah about going right away. Just as they were sitting down, Ron was seen walking down an aisle to make his way towards his sister and friends. "Did I miss anything?" Ron asked.

"So you decided to join us?" Ginny commented.

Ron scowled. "Don't mention it," he said as though he were sick at the idea.

"We have to do our monologues in a Yankee accent," Harry said, worried about the fact.

"Oh," Ron said with indifference.

"Don't tell me _you _know how to do an American accent," Hermione said with doubt dripping in her voice.

"I've, uh," Ron said, turning a bright red. "I've practiced."

"When?" Ginny asked with a smirk as the other two looked on. Ginny knew exactly when. She had walked in on Ron once or twice, looking at himself in the mirror and doing all sorts of accents.

Ron looked down and scowled. "I was bored… there was nothing to do," he mumbled in self-defense.

Ron was saved any further questioning as the first boy rose and made his way shakily up to the stage. He gave a rather nervously delivered monologue before singing a verse of a song, most of the lyrics forgotten. Draco and the Slytherins surrounding him all laughed heartily at the poor boy who had given it a shot and ended up sulking off the stage, face as Ron's had been moments before.

"Like he's going to do any better," Hermione said under her breath. But that had been where she was wrong. After two rows of students either performing at a mediocre level or completely falling flat on their face, Draco Malfoy stood up and gave a flawless audition. His accent was nearly undetectable, the only hint of his true dialect could be covered with the charm. Needless to say the Slytherins cheered wildly as everyone else looked on in shock as he exited off the few steps down stage right to resume his seat once more.

"I think I'll just be going back to the common room," Harry said, standing up a bit.

Hermione grabbed his arm and pushed him back down into his seat. "I don't think so," she said. Harry could hardly argue through the nerves.

After the group of Slytherins, who had clumped themselves together (and none of which lived up to their leader, Malfoy) Susan Bones went up. She did well, though her accent was rather forced. Another Hufflepuff went and then it was Ernie MacMillan's turn. He looked red in the face from the moment he stood to make entrance on the stage. "I will be… be… I will be doing a monologue written by… by Fredrick Ashel," Ernie said uneasily before starting the monologue. He didn't do as bad as it seemed he would. It was just slightly tense. "He looks like he's constipated," Draco pointed out.

The monologue, however, wasn't the worst part of his audition. When he started singing, several of the students in the audience started wincing at the sound. "He can't be serious," Ron said, making a disgusted face.

"He's only auditioning because he really likes Hannah," Hermione said. "I think its sweet… sort of."

Ginny pointed to where Hannah was sitting and said, "look at how hard she's trying to keep a straight face." Harry, Hermione, and Ron found themselves mimicking Hannah's actions after seeing the scene for what it was.

When Ernie finished, there was a loud applause from all but Slytherin, as the members of said house were laughing as loud as they could. Ernie gave a grateful smile as Hannah nodded with approval, despite his dismal attempt.

Next was Ron. He gulped hard and walked up passing the jaunts from Malfoy and his gang. "I'll be performing 'Audition' by Matthew Calhoun," Ron said. Malfoy made a comment under his breath, though Ron couldn't hear what it was.

"'My resume'," said Ron as he takes out a small card and throws it towards the audience. "'Oh, first I should mention that I could play any of the parts in this play. Any. I could play an ant, I could play Little Red Riding Hood, I could play Hamlet. I've never heard of this play, as a matter of fact. It doesn't matter. I can do opera, I can do commercials, I can sing soprano, I can do my own stunts- I'm that versatile. Leading man, leading lady, gay, ingenue- you name it, I can do it. That's how great I am. I see you looking over my resume. Noticing I've never had a part. It's a real comment on this sick business we're in, isn't it? An actor this good (_he thumps his chest_) and he's blackballed! Why? For refusing to show up at auditions! Auditions are beneath me. I wipe my feet on them. People should be begging me to grace their theatres- producers should be asking me to audition them! But those egomaniacs who should bow and scrape before me - they have forced me to betray my principles and come to this'," Ron manages a sneer much like Malfoys as he looks up and finishes with the word, "'audition'."

Everyone sat shocked for a moment or two. Even Hannah's mouth was slightly agape as she looked back down at her paper. "Er—do you have something to sing for me?" she asked after getting over the idea that Ron could do this… that he could be successful… perhaps the best at something.

"Yeah," Ron said, his American accent leaving him immediately. "I'll be singing 'All I ask of You', or part of it at least," Ron said. "It's from another Muggle play."

Hermione's jaw dropped slightly and she gasped quietly, though it didn't get missed by everyone. Ginny leaned over. "What? What is it?" she asked.

"That's my favorite," Hermione said, still looking up at the stage where Ron was getting red in the face. Still, the piano (which had been charmed to play) started, and Ron began to sing. It was nearly perfect. There was one part where he had a hard time with some of the higher pitches, but nearly everyone applauded as he got down from the stage.

"Good job!" Ginny said, standing as her brother approached and throwing her arms around him.

"Okay, okay, not so tight," Ron said, prying Ginny off him and sitting down. "Your turn Hermione."

Hermione entered the stage with the same surety as she did everything else. Draco and the other Slytherins sat there talking amongst themselves, not having anything bad to say about Ron's performance, but it was obvious they were keeping an ear out for any mistakes. Hermione chose a monologue from one of her favorite novels, Emma, keeping things rather prim and proper… and somewhat stiff. She sang technically well, and her accent was almost on, though her 'r's made it obvious that she wasn't American.

Next Ginny went, following in her brother's lead to show that it must be a Weasley trait. She performed her own monologue, one about a lost nun, which had quite a few people laughing instead of just confused. Her accent wasn't as good as Ron's, but then again, she hadn't spent her spare time in front of her bedroom mirror practicing it. Her singing was clear and pure. Quite a sound, most agreed, and as she sat down, many people were sure she would get the part she had come for.

Harry almost backed out. Here he was, inexperienced, and yet trying for something so many people wanted and would do much better at. "I'm, er… I'm going to do a monologue from… er… A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," Harry said. Hermione had picked it out of course, but he was now wondering if her judgment on the piece had been sound, as the Slytherins and a few other scattered beings seemed to be laughing at him.

"'Take me'," he said somewhat quietly as he felt his hand starting to shake. "'I'm nobody. My folks came over from Ireland the year the potatoes gave out. Fellow ran a…'," Harry stopped, trying to think of his next word.

"Come on, Potter, we don't have all day," Draco shouted. A few others laughed.

"'Fellow ran a… a," Harry tried to think of the word, but the laughter just rung in his ears, never seeming to end. That's when he looked up. The first thing he saw was Cho Chang, looking in any other direction from his. Harry realized what an idiot he looked like. Harry forced his attention further down the rows until he saw his two best friends sitting with the other regular to their group. Ron was looking down, biting his bottom lip. Hermione sat on the edge of her seat, mouthing the word, though Harry would never have been able to make it out. Ginny was the one he noticed, though.

Her lips were together in an encouraging smile. One that told Harry he was doing fine, that there was no need to stress. Clearing his throat, Harry started again. This time there was no one in the room but Ginny, with that smile. No one was taunting or making snide comments, just one person silently listening on. Harry had never felt so comfortable with anyone looking at him before, but now he didn't seem to mind so much. When he ended, people cheered in support, and that was when it first sunk into him that others were around.

"What song?" Hannah asked.

"Song?" Harry asked, forgetting that he wasn't done.

"Potter thinks his popularity gets him out of a song," Draco said.

"I… I have a song," Harry said, trying to forget the Slytherins' presence. "I'm singing…"

"Oh great, he's going to forget this too," Draco said.

Harry looked over at Ginny for just one second, as if she held the answers. "'Try to Remember'," Harry said. He continued on with his auditions. There were two lines when Harry completely lost the lyrics and some of the melody, but continued anyway. Once the last note played, Harry hurried off the stage as quickly as his legs could carry him. Once in his seat, Hermione, Ron and Ginny all gave words of encouragement, though he brushed them off as he waited eagerly until it was Cho's turn.

* * *

Ginny held her breath as she saw the notice on the board. Her class had just ended, but Ginny supposed McGonagall had had some time off to put them up. Ginny approached the board slowly and started to read the casting:

Sky Masterson- Ron Weasley

Sergeant Sarah Brown- Hermione Granger

Nathan Detroit- Harry Potter

Miss Adelaide- Cho Chang

Benny Southstreet- Seamus Finnigan

Nicely-Nicely Johnson- Dean Thomas

Rusty Charlie- Micheal Corner

Harry the Horse- Vincent Crabbe

Angie the Ox- Gregory Goyle

Big Jule- Draco Malfoy

General Cartwright- Susan Bones

Arvide Abernathy- Roger Davies

Lieutenant Brannigan- Ernie McMillian

Hot Box Girls/ Female Chorus 

Mandy Brocklehurst  
Lavendar Brown  
Tracey Davis  
Marietta Edgecombe  
Laura Madley  
Parvati Patil  
Ginny Weasley  
Rose Zeller

Police/Gamblers/Male chorus

Stuart Ackerley  
Malcom Baddock  
Terry Boot  
Owen Cauldwell  
Dennis Creevy  
Justin Finch-Fletchley  
Neville Longbottom  
Zacharias Smith  
Blaise Zabini

Ginny's heart sunk. She couldn't feel the finger tip that had been scanning the page for her name only a moment before. In her minutes of silence, Ginny didn't even notice people approaching. "I'm so sorry," Hermione said softly. "I… I really am."

Ginny mentally shook herself out of the stupor and turned around with a forced smile. "Congratulations you three," Ginny said. Tears were slightly starting to form, though she knew she should cry over something like this. Ginny knew she had put her own hopes too high and that she shouldn't have expected a leading role, since she was a fifth year. "I'll see you around," she said quickly, feeling a tear wanting to fall, but not wanting to cry in front of anyone, let alone the three of them. It wasn't as if it were their fault they were the leads and she wasn't.

Ginny walked up to her room quickly and sat down on her bed. She looked around the room pensively before laying back and falling out of the cruel world that denied people of their dreams.

* * *

A/N: That seems a good enough place to end for the time being. I hope you like this chapter. I didn't want to show each and every song/monologue, not even of the trio and Ginny, so I stuck to Ron's monologue, to give you an idea of how outgoing he was. By the way, if anyone reading this can draw really well, I would love a poster type pic of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny as the cast for Guys and Dolls. If not, Review and I'll be equally as happy ;)

Thank you: (I'm re-posting the chapter because I forgot to put these in before! Sorry ya'll, I was just a little tired!)

Loralie: Thank you so much for reviewing. I'm glad you like this one, and I'll continue to update asap. I love Guys and Dolls, you should go rent (or buy) the version with Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit and Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson. So much fun that one is. I'm sure you also know the song 'Luck be a Lady', even if you didn't know it was from this.

Padfoot104: lol I'm not entirely sure about the mystery part of it all, but I do try and add quite a bit of humor in my writing. I usually am one to have a story with a little bit of every genre, though one is the main component.

Henrietta-Black: Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you enjoy it.

Luckyducky8200: Here you go… the next chapter. I hope you like this one as well.

TheGossipQueen: Right on! Were you in it? Or just a spectator? I love this musical, it's so much fun.

JamieBell: You know me… I do overdone plotlines with a twist… it's my motto ;) You'll figure out what I mean about the play within a play by the end of this, I'm sure. I'm glad you like the mood I'm creating, and I hope you still do. By the way, Ginny not getting a lead role was your fault… yours I tell you, so you can't complain about it ;)

Dancerrdw: I'm glad you like it, I really am. I try and make things different, more realistic even. Not everyone that got a lead was the best, but they got their parts for a reason, which is soon to be revealed.


	3. Simple Explanations

Chapter 3- Simple Explanations

Ginny had avoided Harry, Ron, and Hermione for nearly three days. She went to meals early or late, left right after Quidditch practice, and stayed in her room, pretending to sleep when Hermione would try to talk to her. Ginny knew this didn't look good, but she just didn't want to face it. The one time Ron did manage to corner her, Ginny's only response was, "it's no big deal, don't worry about it." Honestly, Ginny knew she would get over it, but she also knew the three of them would talk her to death on the subject, and trying to tell them she was fine wasn't going to work no matter how many times she said so. Besides that, talking about it at that moment would just be pouring salt on a still open wound.

Either way, she couldn't quite avoid them anymore since the first meeting for Guys and Dolls started that night. The issue was one that couldn't be avoided any longer, but needed to be faced head on. This was something Ginny was good at directing others to do, but not for herself all the time. Still she took a deep breath then took one last look in her bedroom mirror before walking down the stairs to the common room. Harry was sitting on the couch alone. "Hey, where are the other two?" Ginny asked, as though nothing had been wrong.

"Prefect meeting. They're going to meet me… well, us there," Harry said. Things were quiet for a moment. "Are… are you okay?"

"Sure; why wouldn't I be?" Ginny stated nonchalantly.

"Oh, well," Harry said. He shut his mouth instead of continuing, since he didn't want to rock any kind of boat. "In that case, should we be going?" Harry asked instead.

"Sure thing," Ginny said with a smile, grateful that Harry at least pretended to accept her answer.

"Here we go then," Harry said, unsure to whether he should offer a hand or something. Ginny walked towards the portrait hole to answer that question.

"Wait up!" Dean Thomas yelled, stopping both of them. "Are you guys going to the auditorium?" he asked, mainly addressing Ginny.

"Yeah, you coming?" Harry answered before Ginny could. He knew how Ron would react if Dean continued this pursuit, and really didn't want to hear it right now, though Harry was of the strong opinion that it was Ginny's life and not Ron's.

"Sure," Dean said. "Seamus and Neville already went." In truth Dean had let the two go ahead, wanting to catch Ginny. He had hoped to catch her alone, but such was not his luck. Still, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to be around Ginny without Ron there.

The three walked towards where they had auditioned nearly a week before. "So how have things been Ginny?" Dean asked. "I haven't seen you around lately."

"O.W.L.s," Ginny explained. Dean nodded in understanding. "Among other things."

"Well, that's good, I guess," Dean stated. "What are the—"

"Are you two excited for tonight?" Harry asked, quickly adding himself to the conversation.

"I guess," Ginny said. "Not that much is going to happen. I think they're just giving scripts and scores out." Ginny looked down as she took a few steps. "At least for those who need a script or score."

"You should have had that lead," Dean said. "It's rotten luck."

"Yeah, rotten," Harry affirmed as he stepped between the two discreetly, though Dean didn't make it easy.

"You know, it was really type-casted," Dean pointed out. "Hermione got the role of the do-gooder who likes rules, Malfoy's the meanest of the gangsters."

"What about Ernie?" Ginny noted. "I know he's a prefect and all, but he's not exactly what I would call an 'enforcer'."

"Isn't that obvious?" Dean asked with a sly grin.

"No, why?" Ginny asked. Harry saw that this was getting dangerous, since they were nearing the auditorium quickly.

"It's the only non-singing part," Dean whispered loudly. Ginny laughed. Harry added in a few forced courtesy chuckles, but found himself quickly understanding why Ron acted the way he did.

"You know, you've got a point there," Ginny added as they arrived at the entrance to the auditorium.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked looking at Dean. Hermione was standing right next to him to the left of the doorway.

"Nothing," Dean said quickly. Ginny didn't exactly know what was going on as all of the heart-to-hearts between Dean and Ron had been in a less public setting. The one thing Ron was thankful for was that Harry was between his little sister and 'the offender'.

"We were just running a little late," Ginny said. "You know, you really should lighten up." With that she smiled and lead the way into where much of the cast was already sitting. Hannah Abbot was talking to Professor Flitwick on the front row. Harry noted the Professor Sinistra was also up there, but not in her normal attire.

Ginny led to an empty row of seating, Dean following behind for a moment before Ron moved quickly to get ahead of him. Hermione followed Ron's lead, leaving Dean between Hermione and Harry. Just as they were finally sitting, Hannah got up onto the stage to address the group as she had at auditions.

"Thank you to everyone who came," Hannah said with a large smile. "You all did very good at auditions, and I'm glad we have such a talented cast. Today we're just going to go over scheduling of rehearsals and hand out scripts."

"See," Ginny said leaning forward to see Dean.

"I would ask the chorus members, both male and female, meet up front on the right here, and I'll talk with everyone else over here to your left," Hannah explained. "Just discuss when the best time to meet for all of you and I'll be over to confirm a schedule," Hannah finished and everyone started to move.

Ginny felt alone as all four of her seating companions stood to make their way over to Hannah. "Hi, Ginny," Neville said happily.

"Hi, Neville," she responded.

"This is going to be fun, I think," Neville said excitedly.

"Yeah, fun."

* * *

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all clumped together as Dean sat with Seamus. Harry had seen Draco come over in a rather indifferent manner. Cho came by, avoiding eye contact with Harry as she sat a distance off, somewhat near Michael Corner, though she didn't talk to him either. Harry watched her until Hannah cleared her throat to talk once more. "I know you all are probably busy with Quidditch and other things, but we do need to come up with a coherent schedule," Hannah said. "First, there are Prefect meetings every Tuesday evening, but I'm not sure what other club schedules are."

"Gryffindor Quidditch practice is on Monday and Wednesday before dinner," Ron said quickly.

"And what about Ravenclaw?" Hannah asked after writing down what Ron said. Waiting for a response, Hannah looked up at Cho.

Cho was just sitting there, trying to act casually. She was fidgeting with the edge of her bag, which sat in her lap as though she was ready to leave as soon as she could. "Oh, we practice on Mondays before them and Tuesdays," she mentioned.

"Slytherin has extra practices on weekends," Draco noted. "Other than that, we have our normal practices early in the mornings." Not that Draco cared, but their captain wanted to keep their daily exercises top secret. Draco knew most people wouldn't bother getting up as early as the Slytherin team to spy on them.

"We'll only meet for a couple hours on weekends until the performance dates get closer," Hannah told the group.

"How many times are we performing?" Hermione asked.

"Twice," Hannah answered. "Once for students and an evening performance family and friends outside of Hogwarts are invited to."

_Great,_ Harry thought. Harry had never really had family that would come. Mrs. Weasley had come right before the final task during his fourth year, but now she would have Ron and Ginny to be watching, so Harry would really have no one this time around.

"So how are Thursdays and Fridays before Dinner?" Hannah asked the group. Most everyone nodded.

"Also on Sundays from 2 to five in the afternoons?" she added. Everyone seemed to be fine with this arrangement. "Okay then. I'll post a list every Monday to announce what scenes we're going to be doing when."

"Can we go now then?" Draco asked snippily.

"Yes, once you have your scripts," Hannah said. "Check them out with Professor Flitwick." After making this announcement, Hannah stood and made her way up to the group of chorus members. "Making any progress over here?" she asked.

"Yeah," Justin Finch-Fletchy answered. "There are a couple hours between classes and one evening a week," he explained.

"Good, that works. Professor Sinistra said that she would teach choreography," Hannah told them. The Slytherins laughed. "She used to dance quite a bit," Hannah defended quickly. "Anyway, she'll probably teach you on the evening rehearsal and the rest should be review. Just give me those times and I'll be there to help run the practices," Hannah said, a smile still on her face. Once someone had copied their plan for a schedule, Hannah dismissed the group, but put a gentle hand on Ginny as she started to leave.

"Yes?" Ginny asked once everyone was gone. She noticed some Gryffindors waiting at the door for her.

"I just wanted you to know that I would have cast you as the part of Sarah," Hannah said in hushed tones.

"Oh," Ginny said, looking down at her feet. She wasn't sure she wanted to know this or not.

"It was just… I really needed Ron as Sky and I couldn't have you and Ron playing opposites," Hannah said.

Ginny looked up. She hadn't thought of that. "So it's not because Hermione's older?"

"No, no, of course not," Hannah said. "I just thought you ought to know you would have had the part otherwise."

Ginny smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate you telling me."

"Oh," Hannah said, stopping Ginny once more as she turned to leave. "I also wanted to ask if you would head up the chorus. I know some people don't take this serious, so I want to make sure someone will keep them in line."

Ginny's smile widened. "Sure," she said. "See you later?"

"Yeah," Hannah said, returning a smile before Ernie started to come towards her.

Ginny walked towards the door way where she saw Ron looking off towards where they would be going back to their common room. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Ron said grimly. "Let's go."

Hermione seemed to still have reserve towards Ginny. "So when are your rehearsals?" 

"A few afternoons a week," Ginny said with a smile. This relieved Hermione.

"You know, Ginny, I might need some help with my lines," Hermione said, making a request she had been holding back on.

"Sure," Ginny said. "Anytime. How about dinner?"

"Sounds good," Ron replied enthusiastically.

* * *

"'I'm going to tell you the truth but you're not going to believe me'," Harry said, still looking straight into his script. For their first rehearsal, Hannah decided to have the main characters simply read through the script.

"'Nathan… why can't we elope?'" Cho asked. Harry felt a blush rising slightly to his cheeks as the question was asked.

"'I'm going to a prayer meeting'," Harry answered, trying to do his best accent. Hannah had also decided that they should try and do the accents without assistance for a while.

"Okay," Hannah interrupted before Cho said her next line. "Next is pretty much the song _Sue Me_, so we'll skip that for now, and onto the prayer meeting."

It took a moment for everyone to catch up. It started with some dialogue between Hermione and Susan. Susan, like Harry, was a bit withheld during this. Hermione, on the other hand, had been digging deep into her character. Ron and Hermione, in fact, had been having a lot of fun with this entire idea.

"'Welcome brothers, welcome, come in come in'," Roger said, still wondering why he had to play a good, upstanding, old man.

"'Okay, is everybody accounted for?'" Ron asked in an ever improving accent. He had been playing with it over the hour and a half he had been here. Hermione would every so often glance at Ron and smile when he would make a change in the dialect, trying to settle on the one he liked best. "'Where's Nathan Detroit?'" he asked again, giving a funny look over to Harry.

Harry, of course, didn't see has his eyes were glued onto the script in front of him. "'I'm here, right here,'" Harry said quickly.

"'Well, I made good my marker'," Ron said, looking over to Hermione. She looked up at him, following along the lines with her finger. "'I oughtta ask you to return it, but it would break up your pretty sets of thoughts of the day. When you get around to it, mark it paid in full.'"

It took Roger a moment as he had been attempting to flirt with Cho, though she wouldn't look up, but finally he caught on that it was his line. "'Would you gentlemen sit down?"

"'Sit down, do as your told'," Ron said in character.

_Finally, something to say_, Roger thought as he cleared his throat. "'On behalf of General Cartwright, Sergeant Sarah Brown, and the rest of us—'"

Here Draco was supposed to interrupt—which he did—with his line—which he didn't. "What the bloody hell is this supposed to mean?" he asked with a sneer. There were no teachers supervising most of these rehearsals, and Draco had made it very clear that he wasn't going to cooperate since this was the case.

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked, looking at the next line.

"Army? Red Cross?" Draco said. "These Mudblood jokes are ridiculous."

Ron and Harry restrained themselves. It was the first time he had decided to drop that word into his snide remarks that evening, and though it had been expected, it was still highly unwelcome.

"I would ask that you keep your language down or we might not have the privilege to practice when we'd like, and if you'll write down the words or things you would like to know, I'll let you know what they mean." Hannah had been extremely patient with Draco throughout the read-through, and most people were ready to tie Malfoy up by his feet onto the ceiling. Hermione, too, had done a spectacular job restraining herself.

Malfoy scoffed and they continued the scene. When they arrived at the end, Hannah gave a few last announcements, reminded them that the next rehearsal would take place that Sunday, and dismissed them. "I'll meet up with you," Harry told Ron, then waited until Ron and Hermione were walking away. Nervously he approached Cho. "I never really got to say congratulations," he said.

Cho startled. "Oh, well," she gave him a soft, yet forced grin. "You just did."

"I, er… I was wondering if we could maybe have some extra practices," Harry said, looking at his shoes. "I know I'm going to need it."

"I," Cho stopped and started to pack her bag. She turned back to Harry and smiled again. "I'll look at my schedule and get back to you."

Harry's heart leapt. "Really? Okay," he said. "I'll… see you around then," he said. _Could this be possible?_ He thought. It certainly would seem that way. Harry, not wanting to seem too anxious, walked off and made his way to meet up with his two best friends.

* * *

A/N: First rehearsal….there it is. I am so tired now! Let me tell you! All the lines are taken from the movie version of Guys and Dolls, so those of you who have it memorized **coughannacough**, don't get on my case for it not being accurate… in fact, I might be needing some help later on (wink wink nudge nudge)

Thanks to all those who have reviewed… please do so if you're reading this.

Thank you:

VoicezWithin: Thank you for your review! We don't always get what we want in life… but don't worry about Ginny… fun things are about to happen to her!

Katkit: Why thank you m'dear!

JamieBell: It's always your fault, it will always be your fault, so just get used to it ;) That's what I told John… jk of course. Anywho, I'm glad you're liking this, and I hope you continue to like this story.

Kurama Luver 51809: Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying my writing style and this story.

Yaa: I will do. Keep reviewing and the posts will come faster ;)

Korah: That's wonderful! Can't wait to see!

Luckyducky8200: Here's the next one for you. Thanks for the review!

13fuzzyllamas: I think most people know that one. It's rather infamous… besides that, the movie just came out.

Guitarprincess: lol wouldn't that be fun? Musicals make any school better!

Emrisah: Will do dude!

Loralie: lol… I know how she feels too. Thanks for your help on this. Peaceout!


	4. Everlovin' Adelaide

Chapter 4- Everlovin' Adelaide

Chorus music rehearsal was finished and Hannah had requested the male chorus members stay to go over parts on 'Luck be a Lady'. "Ginny, I want to ask you something too," Hannah said. The other girls there left as the boys gathered around the piano.

Hannah was pulling Ginny to the side so she could discuss some information when Cho entered the room. She smiled at one of the boys by the piano but came up to Hannah. "Can I talk to you?" she asked quietly, eyeing Ginny for only a moment.

"Just one second," Hannah said with a smile, standing to go aside with Cho.

At first Ginny kept to herself, but then she became curious. "I don't know, Hannah," Cho said quietly. "I was looking at what kind of… costumes I'm going to have to—"

"Don't worry, we can work with costumes. They won't be any worse than a one piece bathing suit."

"Well," Cho said nervously. "It's not just that."

"What then?" Hannah asked, confused and frustrated that a lead seemed to be dropping on her.

"It's just," Cho bit her bottom lip and looked to make sure no one was watching the two, "it's really awkward having to work with an ex-boyfriend, or whatever he was, and… well… he's already wanting to do extra things and whatnot."

"Well, I guess I can't force you," Hannah said rather distressed.

Cho reached out and touched Hannah's arm. "I'm sorry," she said. "I just don't think I can. Besides, I'm really busy and with N.E.W.T.s—"

"I know," Hannah interrupted. "It's okay."

Cho sighed and smiled. "Thanks." Cho handed over the script and score and walked out, carefree. Ginny, on the other hand, was scowling at Cho as she left.

Hannah came up and sat down across from Ginny taking a deep breath. "How would you like to play Adelaide?"

* * *

"Wasn't her rehearsal supposed to be done forty-five minutes ago?" Ron asked, looking again at the portrait hole. "I haven't seen Dean in a while either." 

"You know, you really don't have to worry so much," Hermione said. "What is with this suddenconcern about Ginny anyway? Ever since we got back this year you've—"

"Been keeping an eye on her," said Ron defensively. "I'm the only one left here to make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Like Fred and George leaving makes that big a difference."

"It does," Ron said. Hermione scoffed. "Really, at least she would talk to them."

"This is because of Dean isn't it?" Hermione accused.

"Oh great," Harry commented and mockingly ducked beneath a pillow for cover.

"Shut up," Ron and Hermione said in unison.

"What's wrong with me taking care of my baby sister?"

"Because she's not a baby anymore," Hermione said in Ginny's defense.

"Oh really?" was all Ron could come up with.

"Yes, really," Hermione added.

"Really?" Ron repeated loudly.

"Really what?" Ginny asked from the portrait hole.

"Nothing," Ron said, still in a staring match with Hermione.

"So guess who will be playing the part of Adelaide," Ginny said casually, raising one eyebrow to Hermione.

"Cho, we already know that," Ron said.

"Cho dropped," Ginny said, a smile she was trying to suppress. "Hannah asked if I would take the spot." Hermione and Ron immediately stopped with their conflicted manner to join in congratulating Ginny as Harry sat back and started to look rather sullen.

"Isn't that great Harry?" Hermione asked, pushing him immediately out of his stupor.

"Oh, yeah… it's great Ginny," Harry croaked out.

"Thanks," Ginny said, blushing as she looked down. "I think I'm going to go upstairs and get ready for tomorrow. See you three later." With that announcement Ginny stood and made her way up to her dormitory, script in hand, and ready to start momorizing lines.

* * *

Hermione and Ginny sat in the front row of the auditorium as Hannah staged one of the gangster scenes. "Good, good," she said as Harry finally got his staging correct. Draco continued to laugh, finding Harry an easy target in this activity. 

"Come on, Potter, all you have to do is walk. Didn't your parents teach you to walk before they died?" Draco said the next time when Harry stumbled yet again.

Harry turned and punched Draco right across the jaw. "Say that again!" Harry shouted as everyone else were thrown into an uproar.

Ron attempted to hold Harry back as he tried to hit Malfoy again. Hermione stood and was trying to get Harry to stop. Many of the boys onstage looked on and rooted one side or the other. Hannah was on the stage, standing between the two. Suddenly there was a loud whistle and everyone froze. "What is going on here?" McGonagall asked. Harry took a couple steps back, and Draco was helped up by Crabbe and Goyle.

"He hit me, Professor!"

"Not until he made a disgusting re—"

"Stop it both of you!" McGonagall said sharply. They did so. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy; you will both have detention for the next three evenings, and if I hear of an outburst like this again, you will both be replaced in the musical, is that understood?" Harry wondered if he really cared, even though he nodded. Draco did too. "Now, Ms. Abbott; you may continue rehearsals with supervision from now on. I'll arrange this with you after today's practice which I will sit in on."

Hannah seemed highly disappointed. In her mind, nothing was going right. Her cast couldn't get along, some of them had quit, she wasn't nearly on the schedule she had hoped, and no one would listen. Still shenodded her head and then turned back to those on stage. "Let's try that again. Harry, don't worry about hitting your exact spot, just make it look natural."

They ran the scene four or five more times before Hannah called it quits. It was becoming hard to see Professor McGonagall looking at her watch constantly. "This Tuesday, then, and come ready to dance a bit," she announced.

"Poor Hannah," Hermione said as Ron and Harry joined the girls. "I don't think I've ever seen her so stressed, even during O.W.L.s last year."

"I don't think certain people help much," Ron said, glaring as Malfoy passed. "I wouldn't worry about him," he added to Harry.

"Why's he doing this anyway? Why are any of the Slytherins in a Muggle musical, for that matter," Ginny noted.

"Malfoy? Pass up an opportunity to show off?" Ron scoffed.

"I still don't know," said Ginny skeptically.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Does it matter?" she asked. "I mean, honestly. He probably just wanted to have an opportunity to antagonize us while there wasn't any supervision. I'm betting Draco and his crew quit now that teachers will be there."

"Maybe," Ginny said with a shrug. "Dean wanted me to help him with lines, so I'll see you three around later."

"What?!" Ron asked, stopping.

"I'm going to help Dean, so I'll see you later," Ginny said again. "Bye." Before Ron could come up with a good argument, Ginny was gone.

"I think I'm going to go by the Room of Requirement," Ron said, having a suspicion where Dean was wanting to hold these private rehearsals. "I'll see you later."

"And then there were two," Hermione sighed. "You doing okay?" she asked Harry.

"I'm fine," Harry said, still walking sulkily to the common room with Hermione.

"Why do you still like her?" Hermione asked.

Harry was thrown off by how forward Hermione decided to be. "I don't know," Harry answered. "I think it could work."

"No, it's only ever going to be right in your head, Harry."

"What do you know?" Harry said defensively.

"I just don't want you to get your hopes up, Harry," Hermione said softly. "Ron's worried about the way you've been acting."

"Fine, I'll cheer up, if that's what you want," said Harry.

"That's not what I mean. I just meant—"

Harry turned to face Hermione. "What did you mean? That you don't approve of Marietta so I can't go out with Cho?"

Hermione started to turn pink. "I mean you should be more mature before you go heading into some silly fantasy," Hermione bit. "And that perhaps you should open your eyes and find someone more mature as well." With that, Hermione stormed off, leaving Harry alone.

* * *

A/N: I hope it makes people happy that Ginny now has a good part ;) I feel bad for Hannah to be honest. I directed a musical for church once… it's a lot of work, even without fights breaking out and whatnot. 

Please review! I would really appreciate it!

Thank you:

Smileybugace: Not so much whinny as not wanting to deal with it for the time being. Keep in mind she's only 15, so of course she's going to be upset. I'm glad you like the rest of this so far though. Thanks for the review.

fairyofmagic: It's cool... I'm just glad you reviewed.

Connie: Yes, they do belong. I'm glad you like this. I do like HG as well, and I'm happy you like this set-up. I also like the 'default' idea you have going, though Hermione also got the part because she can play that. I dont know if she could have played Adelaide.

Tria Marie Val: Why thank you! I'm glad you enjoy this. It's one of my favorite musicals too.

Michele: Unfortunately that's what happens in community and HS productions. You know, though, the university here is doing an all female casting of MacBeth, and I'm really thinking about auditioning. I think it might be cool to play a man... especially one of the most well known male characters in all of literature.

JamieBell: Fine, I won't blame you anymore, especially since I roped you into helping me make that decision. It's good to know you're not going to bash my head. Oh and I always seem to miss those little things because it's late and my mind thinks its right. I was editing someone's story the other day and wanted to put womens' instead of women's. I think I'm going crazy.

luckyducky8200: Thank you! I'm glad you like it.

Dancerrdw: Thank you. I hope to keep seeing your name.

Emrisah: I'm not much a Cho fan either, though I didn't want to make her out to be a sluty-slut face, as my sister would say. Have I quoted that before? Oh well if I have. Thanks for the review.

Voicezwithin: Yes, yes that would be weird. Especially since they would have to kiss... ewwwwww...

Katkit: lol I would really like to know what's bothering you about it, more so than what you like to be honest. So if you could let me know, I'd be able to take it into consideration.


	5. Private Lessons

Chapter 5- Private Lessons

Ginny sat with Dean near the fire in the common room, both of their scripts out as they read lines. Harry and Hermione sat at a table not too far off, working on homework of their own. "Don't you think we should stop it?" Harry asked.

"Why?" Hermione countered, still looking at her parchment. "Look, Ron needs to realize that Ginny can make her own decisions. Don't you go getting on her case too."

"I know, but he's going to be here any moment," Harry pointed out.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Then you go talk to them."

"Fine, I will," Harry said. He stood defiantly and walked towards the seating area in front of the fire. The problem was, when he got there, Harry wasn't sure what he should say. "Er—Ginny?" he asked.

Ginny looked up from laughing at something Dean had said. "Yeah?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I was—er," Harry scratched the back of his head trying to think of something, anything. That's when he saw the scripts. "I thought that maybe we could rehearse a few of our scenes," he said. He looked up at Ginny and tried to act convincing.

"Is that alright?" Ginny asked Dean.

"Sure," said Dean leaning back. "Can you help me again tomorrow, though?"

Ginny smiled. "Why of course Mr. Thomas."

"See you then, Ms. Weasley," Dean said. He took her right hand in his and kissed it lightly. Ginny apparently thought it very funny, but Harry found himself not liking the interaction.

"So, where did you want to practice?" Ginny asked as she stood to follow.

"Is the auditorium open?" Harry asked.

Ginny looked at her watch. "I don't know, but it's getting kind of late isn't it?"

"Don't worry about that," Harry said. Quickly Harry made his way over to his book bag and pulled out a silvery piece of fabric.

"Oh, don't you have all the answers," Ginny teased and got beneath the cloak with Harry. If they weren't going to be looked for in the auditorium, they couldn't be seen going _into_ the auditorium. Just as they were approaching, Ginny noticed Draco looking around.

"Great," Harry muttered quietly.

"Don't give up so easily," Ginny said taking out her wand. "You know these come in handy. _Phadelius_," Ginny added, moving her wand.

Draco started to turn quickly, looking over one shoulder, then the other. His head kept snapping back and forth. "What did you do?" Harry asked, trying to hold back laughter.

"Well right now, there's a little monkey that just wants to be friends with a ferret," Ginny said. "Come on."

Harry and Ginny made it into the auditorium and threw off the cloak before laughing loudly, the noise echoing through the performing hall. "Shhhh," Harry said through his laughter.

"Don't worry about it," Ginny said. "There were silencing charms put to keep the sound in the hall separated from that in here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, Hermione was bragging about it." Harry and Ginny laughed. Ginny looked up on the stage and gasp. "They got it!"

"Got what?" Harry asked.

Ginny approached a baby grand piano to answer the question. "Hey, give me your music," she said.

"Didn't you bring yours?" Harry asked.

"No, I have it memorized."

"Then why do you—"

"Just let me see it," said Ginny. Harry handed both script and score over. Ginny opened it to a certain song and placed it on the music stand of the piano. Suddenly the introduction to a song started to play.

"What the—" Harry started before Ginny held up a hand to stop him.

Sitting on the edge of the piano bench dramatically, Ginny sighed and started in a nasally accent, "'It says here'…"

_The average unmarried female,_

_Basically insecure,_

_Due to some long frustration may react!_

_With psychosomatic symptoms,_

_Difficult to endure,_ Affecting the upper respiratory tract

Ginny pretended to put down a book and stood, starting to do a little dance that Harry started laughing at.

_You can spray her wherever you figure the streptococci lurk,_

_You can give her a shot for whatever she's got, but it just won't work._

_If she's tired of getting the fisheye from the hotel clerk,_

_A person can develop a cold._

Ginny winked in an exaggerated manner as Harry rolled his eyes. Moving her hips smoothly, she went back to the chair. "'It says here'…"

_The female remaining single,_

_Just in the legal sense,_

_Has a neurotic tendency, see note._

"See note?" Ginny contorted her face into a humorous expression of curiousity. "You're killing me!" Harry shouted out through his hysteria. "Oh note." Ginny looked straight at Harry with a smile.

_Chronic, organic syndromes,_

_Toxic or hyper tense,_

_Affecting the eye, the ear, the nose, or throat._

Ginny stood once more, walking around the stage batting her eyelashes and acting uncharacteristically girly.

_In other words,_

_Just from worrying whether the wedding is on or off,_

_A person can develop a cough._

_You can feed her all day with the Vitamin A and the Bromo fizz,_

_But the medicine never gets anywhere near where the trouble is._

_If she's getting a kind of a name for herself, and the name ain't his,_

_A person can develop a cough._

Ginny made a dramatic fake sneeze. Harry was finally gaining control of himself as he tried to match Ginny's demure, but no matter how hard Harry tried, he couldn't succeed.

_And furthermore,_

_Just from stalling and stalling and stalling the wedding trip,_

_A person can develop La Grippe._

_When they get on that train to Niagra, she can hear the churchbells chime._

_The compartment is air-conditioned and the mood sublime._

_Then they get off at Saratoga for the fourteenth time,_

_A person can develop La Grippe, La Grippe, La post-nasal drip,_

_With the wheezes, and the sneezes, and the sinuses really a pip!_

_From a lack of community property and a feeling she's getting to old,_

_A person can develop a big bad cold._

Ginny finished with a pose and Harry clapped loudly. "Encore! Encore!" he shouted.

"Why thank you!" Ginny said with a large bow. "Your turn," she added, picking the book back up and flipping through the pages.

Harry froze. "I—er—I don't know any of them really well," Harry admitted.

"So let's learn one," Ginny said, turning the book to a certain page. "Just the melody," she said to the piano. It started playing one of the songs Harry would have to sing.

"So what do I do?" Harry asked, lost.

"Just follow the words as they go with the notes," Ginny directed. "Here, follow my finger." With those instructions, Harry started singing as Ginny's finger would point to a note, then the next.

When Hermione had taught him the song to audition with, she would sing a line and have him repeat it. This seemed to be nearly similar, but much more comfortable. Harry noticed that Ginny's level of patience was extremely high. "Let's try that last line again," she would tell the piano before counting out a measure to cue both Harry and the piano. He was starting to appreciate Ginny's help, as he realized he would otherwise be doing this in front of everyone else. Maybe now he could actually start looking good.

When Harry started to feel comfortable with the song he would start with, the two of them sat down and let the piano have fun entertaining them. "I wouldn't worry, you're doing fine," Ginny encouraged.

"Thanks," he responded, unsure of whether or not to believe Ginny. "Where did you and Ron pick up this stuff?"

Ginny smiled. "Promise not to tell Ron?" Harry nodded and leaned forward in interest. "There was this big Muggle children's choir thing in our area when we were younger. Ron begged Mum to join and she said okay. So Fred and George started to tease him, telling him boys played Quidditch and girls sang. He started to believe them and so Mum talked me into going and 'made' Ron go with me."

Harry and Ginny laughed together about this. "So that's where his Quidditch obsession comes from," Harry pointed out.

Ginny shrugged. "I think partly. It's definitely where his reserve about singing started."

"I wish I could sing like that," Harry admitted. "Then I wouldn't be making such a fool out of myself."

Ginny leaned back in her chair. "Honestly I think he's doing okay because he doesn't really care. That's the key is to not care about what people think." Ginny looked down. "Sorry, I'm sure you weren't expecting me to give you philosophy."

"It's okay," Harry said. "Thanks for helping me, by the way."

Ginny laughed. "Yeah, much help I've been."

"No, really you have. I'm glad Hannah gave you the part when Cho quit," Harry added, then looked away and scoffed. "I shouldn't have thought she wanted to even work with me."

Ginny gave a sympathetic look. "Don't say that," she said. "Besides, I was there and she quit because of the costumes."

"Really?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Of course," Ginny said. "I mean, who would be _that _immature?" This was obviously relieving Harry. "So apparently, I have taken over as the slag of the cast."

Harry laughed. "Don't put it that way."

"Oh well, the only one who will have a cow is Ron," Ginny standing to go look at the script.

"Ron?" Harry asked, looking at his watch quickly. "Oh, we've got to go," he added. Harry wondered what Ron would do to him, being out this late with his sister. Harry certainly didn't want to be treated like Dean.

Hurrying, he threw the invisibility cloak over Ginny and himself and left the auditorium, careful to steer clear of Filch or Mrs. Norris.

When he got up to his room, after a hasty good-bye to Ginny, Harry tiptoed, hearing Neville's loud snores. "Hey Ron," Harry said, then opened the curtain surrounding his best friend's bed. There was Ron, asleep. Harry wondered how this selective worry occurred as he went to his own bed and laid down until he fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: There's chapter 5. I hope you all like the little glipse at lyrics and whatnot. I probably won't ever do a huge chunk of the show, but little showings of it like in this chapter. Please Review… that's all the energy I have for tonight!

Thank you:

Ezza: I've never really seen it live either, but the DVD has been viewed often. Thanks for the review.

Hermione-r-Weasley: Thanks for the review... I hope you were able to access the other chapters, as some people seemed to be having problems.

mysterymademe: LOL I have about 20 other stories on here. Feel free to take a gander, I would love to see what you think of my other pieces ;)

Emrisah: You crack me up at this late, late hour... Harry's just a little blind... oh well... He'll catch up soon enough. Hermione and Ron get it! To be honest, though, I don't think Ginny's on that train either...

VoicezWithin: I don't think Ginny minds so much. The way I see things, if Dean and Ginny break-up, they'll still be very sociable with one another. Besides that, I'm playing this a few months after their break-up.

Phillipa of the Phoenix:Honey, I've directed a Musical, and I feel for Hannah... I definitely can relate! Besides that, I've been in my fair share of productions. Iwouldn't worry about Ron, he's doing just fine. It's Harry I feel bad for ;)

Dancerrdw: Thanks

LuckyDucky8200: This one I'm determined to do a chapter a day ;)

Countess Mel: LOL I love little things like that, and I LOVED Phantom... Gerard Butler is an amazing actor... I've seen it twice and am planing at least once more... to take the girl I nanny... honest that's why looks innocent

Emma-Lynn: Thank you! I appriciate the acknowlegement!

AnniePotter2004: That's me... full of suprises lol. JK Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you seem as obsessed with HP and musicals as I do!

Megan: Before I forget, thanks for your review on In the Cafe... I had fun with that one ;) Don't hate Cho! I know she doesn't seem so nice, but I think she's just confused by everything...

Katkit: So too much of Ron's overprotectiveness? That's usually my favorite way to see him, but it's more because there needed to be a bug in Harry's ear, and Dean is being rather consistant in his attempts for another chance with Ginny. Thanks for the mention, though, I'll keep it in mind.


	6. Costumes

Chapter 6- Costumes

It was three weeks before the performance and Hannah Abbot was starting to feel the stress all barrel down on her even more than she had before. "Excuse me… EXCUSE ME!" she shouted. Everyone froze. Hannah gave a forced little smile and continued on speaking quickly and in a high-pitched tone. "I just need everyone to come get your costumes. Make sure you sign them out because we have to return them. And please, _please_ be careful," Hannah pleaded. As people started lining up, Hannah looked at her clipboard, hands shaking.

"Poor Hannah," Ginny said.

"I think this was harder than she imagined," Hermione added. "Ron, why don't you run a rehearsal or two?"

"Me? Run rehearsal? I didn't sign up for that," Ron said.

"Fine, well, how do you think we could help then?" Hermione asked stiffly.

"How about by memorizing our lines," Ron suggested. Hermione rolled her eyes and the two of them started into an argument as Ginny stepped forward with Harry.

"How about we just all stay quiet?" Ginny whispered, looking back at Hermione and Ron. Harry laughed a bit.

"You know, they haven't been this bad for a long time," Harry pointed out.

"They're method acting," Ginny said, nodding very seriously.

"Method acting?"

"That's when you stay in character, even when you're not on stage," Ginny explained. She pointed at them with her hand and added, "Now see? That's not Hermione and Ron… it's Sarah and Sky."

Harry laughed. "Right," he said sarcastically.

Professor Flitwick, who had been the main supervisor, was at the front of the line, handing out costumes and writing down the students name, making each cast member sign the clothing out.

"These are so stupid," Draco said. Ginny rolled her eyes and muttered to ignore him to Harry under her breath.

"Ah, Miss Weasley," Professor Flitwick said, pulling out several costumes and piling them in her arms. "And Mr. Potter." He put two different suits into Harry's arms. "Sign here," he added last. Once Ginny and Harry had done so, both sat down and started looking at their outfits.

"Wow," Ginny said as she pulled out piece after piece of revealing costumes with fishnet tights. She had a feathered robe that she would be using to cover up during some of the scenes.

"Sexy," Dean said as he came over, already dressed in costume.

Ginny chuckled. "Don't get too excited."

"You going to wear that when you help me with lines tonight?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows. Ginny laughed. Harry scowled. "What's the matter, Harry?" Dean asked sitting down.

"That wasn't funny," Harry retorted.

"Lighten up," Dean said. "I was kidding."

Harry, however, didn't lighten up as advised. Instead he sat back in his chair and attempted to distract himself as Ginny and Dean sat chattering away. Ron came over and sat down next to Harry. "What are they doing?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry replied, "but did you need help bashing their 'study session'?"

* * *

"Don't step on my toes," Ron complained from beneath the invisibility cloak. 

"I'm sorry that I didn't take dance lessons when I was nine," Harry said.

"Who told you that?" Ron demanded in shock.

"Ginny."

"She's dead… she's so dead," Ron said.

"Quiet," Harry said. Carefully, Harry opened the door to the auditorium and the two snuck in.

"Dean," Ginny said incredulously. "Come on, you had these lines yesterday, and the day before."

"I have a short term memory problem," Dean said with a shrug and a smile. Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "Besides, don't you like running lines with me."

"You know, Mr. Thomas, that I have plenty of my own studying to do."

Dean stood from the chair he had occupied and stepped right up to Ginny. "Perhaps we could run one of your scenes, then. Maybe the one after _Bushel and a Peck_?"

Ginny stayed where she was. "You mean the one where Adelaide kisses Nathan?" Harry held Ron back for a moment.

"Why Ms. Weasley, what are you insinuating," Dean said, playing with some loose locks while leaning in. "I don't need a script for that do I?"

"DON'T!" Ron said, coming out from the sanctuary of the invisibility cloak.

"Ron?" Ginny said, looking in his direction.

"Hands off!" Ron yelled, pursuing Dean.

Dean got ready to push Ron off of him, even though Ron was taking a bit of time about it, unable to find an aisle and climbing over chairs instead. "Nothing was happening, Ron," Ginny said, "and it's none of your business if there was anyway!"

"Of course it's my business!" Ron said. He finally made it to the last row of chairs, but Ginny stepped in the way before Ron could do anything to Dean.

"Where's Harry?" Ginny demanded.

"What?" Ron asked. Harry froze. He didn't even breath.

"You used the invisibility cloak, so where is he?" Ginny asked, furious that the two of them would be spying on her.

"I, I didn't use the cloak," Ron said. "I tried a disallusionment charm… it didn't last." Dean was out of sight for the moment, and in his place was Ginny Weasley, who was fast matching her mother's temper. She even gave the same skeptical glare as her mother. "Really, I did," Ron said, getting his own fury back which aided him in lying. "What were you two doing alone?!"

"I was helping Dean with lines," Ginny said. "And we weren't done practicing, so out! OUT!" Ginny repeated, pushing Ron towards the aisle and pushing him up towards the exit. "If you come _near_ here again, I will jinx you all the way to Bulgaria, where you can tell Viktor Krum what you think of him!" Ginny took a chair and put it in front of the handles to the entrance.

"Reverting to Muggle tricks?" Dean asked.

"Something Hermione taught me," Ginny answered. She took a deep breath before turning around. "You know, Dean, I don't think we should—well… I don't think we should go down that road again."

"Oh," Dean said. He looked down at his feet. "You know, I really like you," he added as he looked back up to match her gaze.

"I know, but I can't do that again," Ginny told him. "You'll always be my friend, but I don't know that I want it to go beyond that." Ginny walked towards Dean.

Dean gave a forced grin. "Mind being the one I long for?"

"Only if you forever worship me," Ginny teased with narrow eyes. Dean laughed. "I'm sorry," she said.

"It's okay… Doll," Dean said, doing his gangster impression by flipping the fedora he had been issued that day and placing it on his head. "We better get back to the common room." Dean put out his arm to escort Ginny.

"Why thank you, my good sir."

"Any time, my lady," Dean said. Arm in arm, they exited the auditorium. Harry took off the invisibility cloak and looked towards the door with a smile.

* * *

**_Slap!_**

"'I'll just keep in mind Matt 5:39. Don't bother looking it up it's the bit about the other cheek'," Ron said, then turned upstage and exited out the false door.

"That wasn't right!" Hannah shouted. Madam Pince put an arm on Hannah's shoulder and started talking to the stressed girl.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said as Ron entered the stage again. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Ron said. "You keep hitting that spot, it's okay."

"Oh good. I'm so worried that I'm going to hurt you one of these times," Hermione said. She relaxed a bit and waited for Hannah to start up the scene again.

Instead, the girl in pigtails turned around and simply shouted, "Moving on!" before sitting and putting her head in her hands.

Ron and Hermione sat as the Hot Box Girls and Ginny got up. Sinistra stayed at the bottom of the stage and did the moves as the girls—still in sweatpants and t-shirts—all mimicked her in their own positions on the stage. Lavender and Parvati got too close, and on one of the kicks during the number, Parvati fell down hard onto the ground.

Always the Drama Queen, Parvati immediately started to hold her ankle and cried. "Oh! It hurts!" she said loudly. Everyone gathered around her.

"Out of the way," Madam Pince said. "Come on, dear. Let's go to the hospital wing," she suggested. "Mr. Thomas, come help me please." Without complaint, Dean helped Parvati up with Madam Pince. With one arm around each of their shoulders, the three started going to the hospital wing.

"Fine! Fine!" Hannah said. "Tomorrow's the first dress rehearsal, be ready please," Hannah said. With that, she grabbed her clipboard and stormed out of the auditorium.

Most of the cast didn't know what to do. Ernie followed Hannah out quickly. The Slytherins left first. Slowly people stopped feeling guilty, and soon the theatre was nearly empty. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were left there with Neville when he excused himself to go to the library. "I better be going too," Ginny said.

"Wait," Ron said. "Harry will go with you."

Harry looked over at Ron, wanting to beat up on him. "No, actually, I was going to go out to the pitch," Harry said with a deep blush.

"Thanks for the offer anyway, Ron," Ginny said, picking up her book bag. She rolled her eyes. "See you later," she said.

Harry left, as he said he would, as well. "So much for that idea," Ron said.

"Why don't you ever just let things run their course?" Hermione asked.

"Because the last time things ran their course, Ginny ended up dating three people _other_ than Harry, and she has a stalker."

Hermione scoffed. "Dean is not a stalker," Hermione said.

"I don't know, but we have to think of something," Ron said. He leaned forward and started to think.

"Maybe you should listen to yourself and start opening your own eyes!" Hermione said. She quickly stood and stormed out, leaving Ron alone.

* * *

A/N: There's chapter six for ya'll. I missed a day I know! I'll try and keep up, but I don't know how much I'll be able to update this weekend (color guard camp). Please review and let me know what you think. 

Thank You!

JamieBell: I'm glad you liked the Cho bit. I wanted it to be believable as well as clear. I can't wait for your review on chapter 5 ;) But thanks for the review. I'm await your reviews, and I hope you end up having fun on your little vaca.

luckyducky8200: bows Thank you, thank you very much!

Korah: I can't wait to see the poster! Email it to me ;)

Phillipa of the Phoenix: Ron will do just fine :) I think there's more to Ron than we know.

dancerrdw: Thank you

CountessMel: My roommie is obsessed with Butler lol. I'm glad you liked the chapter.

EponineWeasley5: You have my two favs... Harry Potter and Les Mis :) Rock on! Thank you for the review, and I hope to see you around soon.

VoicezWithin: Awwwww.... sometimes Walmart has it for five bucks... save your change ;)

Emrisah: Thank you! I really enjoy your comments, and I think they could really take from your river statement.


	7. Backstage Drama

Chapter 7- Back stage drama

"Is everyone dressed?" Hannah asked with a big smile on her face from on stage. "Good, now we're just going to do a straight run-through. Our crew is ready today,but let's have some patience for them."

Everyone stayed very quiet, wondering if this was the calm before the storm, but after making this announcement, Hannah hopped off the stage and went to the back row to sit. "What's going on?" Ron asked.

"I heard Madam Pomfrey gave her an extra large dose of calming draught," Hermione informed the others. "I'm wondering how much, though. She seems quite…"

"Out of it?" Harry provided as they looked back at their director. No one else said anything as they all got in place for the opening scene.

Sinistra sat on the front row. "Kick! Turn! Turn! Good!" she shouted as Rose and Mandy came on stage to do their bit of dancing to the opening number. In a small pit set off to the side were more self-playing instruments. They stayed right on track, playing the overture as Professor Flitwick conducted on top a tall wooden box.

"Where did Ginny go?" Ron asked, looking around the stage.

Hermione looked down at her costume. "I think she's studying in the green room until—"

"Green room? She went to the Slytherin common room?" Ron asked.

"No," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "The green room. That place back stage."

"That's not green, it's brown," Ron said. Harry tried desperately to hold in laughter.

"It's called the green room, Ron," Hermione said. "Honestly, haven't you learned anything about theatre?"

"Shhhh," Ernie said. "Don't go getting Hannah all upset."

Ron made a face at Ernie as he turned back around, but none of them started talking as the trumpet sounded for the beginning of the first number.

_I got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere,_

_And there's a guy who says if the weather's clear, _

_Can do,_

_Can do,_

_This guy says the horse can do._

Dean was the person singing with a newspaper in his hand. Seamus was listening as he looked over Dean's shoulder occasionally, and Michael stood a little further downstage. Seamus came in with the second part, bringing his own notebook out and pointing out evidence to which horse was going to win. Next Michael added in. Their performance was getting better, though sometimes Seamus wasn't too certain with the words.

The show continued to run with only a few major problems, though Hannah would just smile and say to continue. "I'm here!" Harry heard Ginny from off stage just before her entrance. She was wearing a large faux fur jacket and lots of flashy jewelry. It almost looked ridiculous, Harry noted, seeing as Ginny was normally of simple taste in style. _Simple but good_, Harry added in his mind.

She came on stage and started to give her lines. Suddenly her eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip. "'I have a gift for you Nathan'," Ginny said, her accent starting to slip. Harry realized then that Ginny had forgotten the prop from the table. Someone from off stage, rushed on to give it to the blushing Ginny.

"'Oh Adelaide'," Harry said with a swallow and a smile. "'I wasn't able to get you anything.'"

"'Nathan, that's all right, it makes me feel as though we were already married'," Ginny started getting back into character and not worrying so much about her mistake anymore. They continued on with a few more of the same problems. Hermione was one of the few people that would worry about those, taking Hannah's place as she was occupied with more calming draught.

Every so often Hannah would shout out in a jovial manner, "Good show, good show," or, "Don't worry, you'll get it."

"Maybe Madam Pomfrey should let up on the potion a bit," Hermione said.

"Why? She's off our backs isn't she?" Ron replied.

"She's practically high!"

"High as a kite," Harry added, "but happy, at least."

"What are you talking about over here?" Ginny asked, adjusting her leotard and kitten ears for the next number.

"Hannah Abbot and the Case of the Calming Draught," Harry said, looking out of the curtain where Hannah seemed to be sharing a good joke with a fourth year that would be helping out with the lighting.

"At least she's happy," Ginny said. "I wish I could get a couple swigs from her."

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Ginny," Hermione warned.

"Don't worry," she responded, "I'll wait until after we finish the show."

"Why's that?" Ron asked, looking down at his script.

"Because after that, I don't care what I look like in front of a group of people."

"How's studying going?" Hermione asked brightly, only to earn a glare from Ginny.

"I should have stayed in the chorus."

"You make a great Adelaide, though," Ron encouraged, handing her the robe sitting on the stair well, which lead to the catwalk. "Doesn't she Harry?"

Harry, who was concentrating on what was happening on stage instead of Ginny's latest costume, looked over. "What?" he asked.

"Isn't Ginny a great Adelaide?" Ron asked again.

"Oh, yeah," he responded, then looked back to the stage, feeling himself go a bit red.

"Anyway, I've got to go help Rose with a couple of the steps she keeps missing," Ginny said, then was off.

"I'm going to get some water," Harry likewise excused himself.

Hermione waited until she was gone before saying anything. "Why can't you seem to leave those two alone?" Hermione asked.

"I am leaving them alone," Ron said. "I just thought that it might help Ginny if she knew we all thought she was doing well."

"Why didn't you ask me to help with the affirmation then?" Hermione asked, with one eyebrow cocked. "Besides, it's not the part that giving her the most stress, it's just a contributing factor," she added when Ron couldn't seem to respond.

"What is it then, Ms. Know-it-all?" Ron said.

Hermione looked as though she had just been struck by some sudden news. "It has to do with O.W.L.s coming up," she said. "And I don't know it all."

"Wow, that's a first," Ron snarked. "Hermione Granger, not knowing it all… should be on the headline of The Daily Prophet tomorrow," he said.

"You're a real prat, sometimes, you know that?" Hermione said, turning back to pay attention for her entrance.

"Besides, what if I am trying to get them to notice one another? Is there something so wrong with that?" Ron asked.

"It's your approach," Hermione said. "There's no need to be so pushy about it."

"Just because there's no one for you to date doesn't mean that you should try and keep me from helping Harry and Ginny be happy," Ron snapped quickly. He watched Hermione's reaction with satisfaction.

Beforeshe could respond, however,there was a blackout on stage to cue them in for their first scene. "This is wrong," Ron said, taking the poster from Hermione that had a scripture written on it. He looked at her, seeing how stiff she was, more so than in any other practice before now. As they continued the scene, Ron started to feel guilty about what he had said in the wings, wishing he could take it back. He made a decision in his mind, as Hermione sang her part of their duet, that he would apologize for he had said.

"'No, no, no'," Ron interjected his lines. "'You are talking about love! You can't dope it like that. What are you picking, a guy or a horse?'"

"'I wouldn't expect a prat to understand'," Hermione responded. Ron could have sworn it was 'gambler' in the script.

"'Would you like to hear how a gambler feels about the big heart throb?'"

"'No!'" Hermione said firmly.

"'Well, I'll tell you'," Ron finished then started to sing.

_Mine will come as a surprise to me._

_Mine I leave to chance and chemistry._

"'Chemistry?'" Hermione said.

"'Yeah, chemistry,'" Ron quoted with a tip of the gray fedora he had been given to wear with his suit.

_Suddenly I'll know, when my love comes along,  
I'll know then and there.  
I'll know at the sight of her face,  
How I care, how I care, how I care,  
And I'll stop,  
And I'll stare._

_And I'll know, long before we can speak,  
I'll know in my heart.  
I'll know and I won't ever ask,  
Am I right, Am I wise, Am I smart?  
And I'll stop,  
And I'll stare,  
At that face… in the throng!_

_Yes, I'll know when my love comes along._

With that, Ron took Hermione in his arms, forgetting about the fact that they had always avoided this kiss and laid it on her, as Hermione tried to push him away.

"You go Ron!" Hannah shouted giddy from her seat in the middle of the auditorium. "Yeah!" she continued to root him on.

When he finally let go, Ron looked in Hermione's eyes, trying to communicate with his own that he was sorry, but before much could be said, he felt her hand hit his cheek hard, without the aim she had been trying for since the first time they had done this scene. Before Ron could give his lines, Hermione stormed off stage left, leaving Ron to shout them after her before his exit. He went back into the principle's dressing room and looked at the red handprint, still on his cheek. "Mudblood's not looking so good now, is she?" said Draco in his usual drawl.

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy," Ron threatened, pushing his chair aside and trying to get at the blonde-haired boy. Crabbe pushed Ron back.

"Defending her after she so blatantly hit you?" he said. "How sickening."

"Where's Draco?" one of the stage hands could be heard outside the dressing room.

Draco turned his attention the other way, then smirked at Ron. "Break a leg, Weasley," he said. "In fact, break both." Goyle pushed Ron into his chair before they all left, slamming the door behind him. Before Ron could do anything more, the three were onstage. In anger he kicked the wall and left the dressing room, hoping to find Hermione before their next scene.

* * *

"He said _what_ to you?" Ginny asked incredulous, her books sprawled out over the female dressing room.

Hermione was standing against the wall adjacent to the closet, crying with a tissue wadded up in her hand. "It's not as if I don't think similar things about myself, but hearing it come from—"

"Either way it's not right," Ginny said. "You're right to tell him to nose out of my relationships… I couldn't believe he was following me around when Dean was helping me… and to say something so cruel-hearted… it just isn't right."

"I thought that maybe… that perhaps… well… we had been getting on so well," she said, "but I guess I was wrong."

"Wrong about what?" Ginny asked, brows furrowed.

"Wrong about him liking me," Hermione said with another small sob. "I'm such an idiot. I should be focusing more on my school work."

Ginny stood up and hugged Hermione. "Ron's clueless sometimes, we both know that," she said.

"I think I might have broke his jaw," Hermione said with a guilty grin.

"What?" Ginny said, a smile of her own pulling her lips.

"I slapped him so hard."

"He deserved it," Ginny affirmed. She looked out the door. "Time for me to be a sex kitten," Ginny said, referring to the cat outfit she still had on. "I'll be back," she added with one last little hug.

"Have fun," Hermione said, stepping out of the dressing room to watch.

* * *

A/N: So it's been like what? Six months? I was wanting to take more from the script/movie, but I finally realized I would never have that kind of time… so I'm doing the best I can now ;) Hope people still read this :S And review!

Thanks:

FlairVerona: lol awww thanks. I tried to use HP-Lexicon for as much of it as possible. I appriciate your comments, and I love techies! You guys rock! It gets on my nerves when cast members think they're so much better than those working in the wings.

Sapphirestar11: lol I figured some chorus members could double up on the casting... unfortunately I didn't have an exact list of what's normally cast, so I worked with what I had ;) and what I could remember for that matter.

Julesfire: You know, you're right... but I've always preferred the name 'Sky', so I don't know if I'm going to bring that detail in, since this is more about the HP characters.

Aracalien: I have a hard time with pronouns sometimes hehehe. I especially don't like using them if there's more than one of the same gender in a convo or scene.

luckyducky8200: YAY COOKIES! LOL thanks for the review. I'm glad you enjoy it!

JadeGreen14: lol Yeah... I wanted to not give Ginny a part at first to allow the whole Cho being uncomfortable around Harry thing to show through... and so that Ginny would be more appriciative... and so that other things that are still to come will shine through ;)

Voicezwithin: Lol I love Hannah here! I have this total image in my head about her swaggering about, acting almost drunk as she talks. I'm glad you're enjoying it, and thanks for always reviewing! It means a lot to me.

CountessMel: I think everyone that's ever in a play is completely nervous and worried. What play? What part? You must be fairly good to have done that ;) Congrats!

Katkit: Thanks

fake-truth86: lol you spoke to soon on the updating thing... I just finally got writer's block and didn't bother with any literary laxatives, if you know what I mean ;)

Emrisah: Uh... probably not as soon as possible here, but I tried... with school, it became kind of hard. Thanks for the review!

dancerrdw: Thanks a lot

Anonymus: Sorry... my main idea was to have more with RHr, but they weren't cooperating! It's really a RHr HG fic, and I've been trying to give them even stage time, and I think I'm starting to get on track. Thanks for mentioning it, though.

Kat3h: Awwww thanks! I'm sorry this has taken so long, and I hope you haven't lost interest entirely.

EponineWeasley: Still can't get over the coolness of your are the best part! I just got done (well a month ago) with the musical I was in: Beauty and the Beast. I was the Wardrobe (Madame De La Grande Bouche, not doing the costuming for other people) and I was literally in a wooden costume for the majority of the show! It was so awesome, even though it was a bit heavy and hard to manuver at times. Good times... good times.

MusicalIsha: Thanks! You too eh? I love musicals... they're my passion. Right now, I'm stuck on the Little Woman musical soundtrack... good stuff, let me tell you. I think I'd want to be Beth, should I ever do that show... ANyway... I'm glad you like this, and yes... I tend to have a hard time proofreading my own stuff becuase my mind likes to fill in what should be there... and I'm too impatient to always use a beta, unless it's required. Alas... minor errors (and sometimes, just plain stupid ones).

ourlittlesecret7: lol GInny as Adalaide works better for me too hehehe. I hope you still like what I'm doing with the musical, and I sometimes change things a bit, or just go from memory, or try and find a source that I don't is always perfect. Still, I think it works for what I'm trying to accomplish ;) Thanks for the review.

Laxgoalie: I enjoy Guys and Dolls too! My fave is Les Miserables, but that's one I won't touch until I've seen it. Le sigh... such good stuff these musicals.

Someone who wants to help: Well, first I'd like to point out that if you think all the main characters are completely talented you've obviously not read this. Ron is good at this, for once, Hermione's okay, Ginny's decent, and Harry has the part he has because it tends to be hard to find a lot of guys who can fill parts and all the other big parts were occupied by people who filled them much better than anyone else could have. I personally think it very possible for Hogwarts to put on a musical, just like it would be for any other school... I don't think Rowling would do it, but that's why this is called Fan fiction. Besides that, I think I've allowed in the writing for the reasoning behind a musical at Hogwarts to be a little more plausible than just someone kicking up the idea. When it comes down to it, the story is about how the characters (Harry and co.) interact outside of the play, and isn't about them just being in one. If you're going to waste your time writing reviews that are uninformed, maybe you shouldn't even bother opening fics like this.

JamieBell: Here's a reviewer I like (one that isn't ignorant like the above). I loveOverprotective!Ron, as I've said many-a-time. I love the image of him climbing over chairs because he thinks he can strangle Dean faster that wayhehehehe. I'm glad you enjoyed those chapters, and I hope to hear from you on this one!

Defyinggravity330: again with the speaking too soon concerning updates hehehe. I'm glad you like this, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm thinking maybe 10 total, but I never plan out exactly how many chapters, because it always ends up changing. Hope you enjoy ;)


	8. Old Flames

Chapter 8- Old Flames

The night of the show was busy and chaotic, everyone demanding to know where their costumes were, stagehands shouting the time until the cast had to be in their places. Ginny sat in her first costume of the show, shoveling through notes as the girls around her frantically put on lipstick and blush. "Is this enough?" Padma asked, a modest amount of blush on her cheekbones.

"You need a brighter color, I think," said the second year that was helping with the makeup. "Yes, right here," she said, looking through a book of theatre makeup. "Brighter, and a bit more." Both Padma and Parvati followed this advice.

Ginny had done her makeup almost an hour before, wanting to be prepared instead of fighting the crowd. "Can I use your red?" Rose asked her.

Ginny looked up from her charms notes. "Yeah, sure," she said, shuffling through until she arrived at Hermione's more detailed record of Cheering Charms. Her hair was in ringlets and hung down around her face. Just as she was finishing the paragraph on the wand movement, she felt her hair being pulled behind her and placed on her back. She turned to see Dean there. "You're not allowed—"

"I knocked first," he said with a smile. "And I wanted to bring you this," he added, handing Ginny a small bouquet of daisies.

"Dean," she said reproachfully.

"Just between friends," Dean said. "I promise."

Ginny smiled and took the flowers. "Well, they're lovely friendship flowers," she said. "Do well tonight, all right?"

"I always do," he said with a wink, then stepped over.

The next time Ginny looked up, he was giving some flowers to Parvati. Ginny shook her head with a bit of a chuckle and continued to read through notes.

"Places everyone!" the stage manager shouted. Ginny sighed and marked her place, setting down the notes and leaving the dressing room.

Standing in the wings, she watched people make their entrances and exits, giving some of her classmates a few words or a squeeze on the upper arm. As Fugues for Tinhorns started up, Ginny noticed Harry come near her, muttering under her breath. "Hey," she whispered, approaching him, "break a leg."

"Er—" he stammered, "thanks."

"Don't worry," Ginny told him.

"W-who said I was worried?" he asked. She watched his gaze wander across the way where Draco was doing a horribly cruel mimic of those singing on stage.

"Who cares what Draco thinks?" she said, bringing Harry's attention back. "You're going to do great," she said with a lopsided grin.

"Thanks," Harry said.

Ginny watched him onstage, starting with his stammer a bit through the first half of the scene until he slowly became more comfortable being in front of all the staring eyes. _I thought he'd be used to it by now_, she thought as she waited, making her entrance with a large amount of energy, forcing her voice into a nasally American accent. She could hear some of the students chattering in the audience. When they exited the stage, Harry collapsed in the nearest chair.

"You're doing great," Colin Creevy said to him before walking off to do his own job.

"See?" Ginny said. With a smile, leaning against the wall.

"Like I trust the opinion of Colin to give me a good view on how I'm doing."

"I think you're doing wonderful," Ginny said. "Proving yourself for getting the part, at least."

Harry's exasperated look became a smile. "Thanks," he said. "Er… Ginny?"

"Yeah?" Ginny continued to whisper.

"I was wondering if… well," he said, looking at the ground. "I was wondering if you'd like to—I dunno—if you're not too busy with studying…"

"Are you actually going to ask me something?" Ginny asked with half a grin.

Harry took a breath and looked down at his feet. "Would you go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?" he asked, then looked up timidly over the rim of his circle glasses.

Ginny felt her heart jump up a bit. Was he really asking her out? Skinny little red-headed Ginny? "Wow," she said aloud without meaning to. "I mean… yes… yes, of course," she said. "I have to go get changed now," she said after a bit of an awkward silence.

"Oh right," he said, stepping out of Ginny's way. "You're doing great, by the way," he added as Ginny passed.

She felt a rise of heat to her cheeks as she made her way over to the dressing room. She changed into her next costume and started to study, though the words seemed to bounce from her mind the moment they entered, being replaced with giddy thoughts of a teenage girl. Ten minutes passed without one phrase of notes penetrating Ginny's mind. "The show's going rather well, don't you think?" Hermione asked, coming into the dressing room.

Ginny looked up and smiled at her older friend. "Fantastic," she said.

Hermione gave an odd look between curiosity and fear. "You look like you've had a coat hanger in your mouth… are you okay?"

"He asked me on a date," Ginny said, her smile growing.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Harry," Ginny exclaimed in a giggly fashion. "I don't know what's gotten into me, but I think it needs to stop," she said. "I'm supposed to pretend to be mad at him, but I don't know if I can."

"Sure you can," Hermione said. "That's why it's called acting. So how'd he ask?"

"Rather clumsily."

"And?"

"Next weekend… Hogsmeade," Ginny said. "I can't wait!"

"Which leaves me alone," Hermione said with a sigh.

"What do you mean? You'll have Ron," Ginny said, her smile turning to an expression of concern.

"Right," Hermione scoffed. "You remember what he said."

Ginny looked as if the situation had just struck her. "Oh… well… I could always see if Harry wanted to do something—"

"No, no," Hermione said. "Go on, have your little date. I'll find something to do."

Ginny hopped up from her chair and hugged Hermione while squealing happily. "Thanks," she said. "I've got to get out there, I think."

"Yeah," Hermione said with a wink.

* * *

The show ran with fewer mistakes than Harry had anticipated—which generally didn't say much, considering his idea of success was not falling into the pit, but he even felt confident enough to say that it went well. "Colin and Dennis are nicking some food," Dean told Harry quietly as the Slytherins stood nearby. "Party when we get back… and Ginny said for everyone to keep their makeup on."

Harry looked determined at his reflection, his jaw tensing. "Yeah, sure," he said as he watched Dean leaving. He wondered why they were still talking… why would Ginny continue conversing with Dean if she really meant what she had said? Then again, she had agreed to a date with him, hadn't she?

Harry was only slightly distracted from this paradox by the Slytherins huddled together talking in hisses, Draco having his head the lowest. "… Father didn't want to come until I told him."

Harry looked their way for a moment, but they all seemed to stop. "Did you want something, Potter?" Draco asked. "Maybe a few vocal lessons? Or some more lipstick? That's a great shade for you, by the way... bet the girls are all jealous."

Harry restrained himself and turned around without a word, leaving them as the only ones left in the men's dressing room. His thoughts were detoured as he wiped his lips against orders; now wondering what Malfoy was planning. It hadn't been brought up since auditions, but why would someone who detested all things Muggle audition for a musical that clearly didn't involve wizards, besides the fact that all the actors in this production were? Not to mention being allowed to be a part of a Muggle Studies project. Preoccupied with both unanswered questions, Harry didn't notice anyone trying to get his attention until a hand was on his arm.

"Harry," Cho said. "Hi," she added, letting go of his arm.

"Oh... er… hi," he said. Harry was one floor down from the portrait of the Pink Lady and was rather surprised to be faced with talking to anyone outside of his common room, let alone Cho.

"Look," she said quickly. "I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the play tonight and I'm really sorry I couldn't be a part of it."

Not for the first time around Cho, Harry felt defensive. "Couldn't?"

"Well… honestly," Cho said slowly, biting her bottom lip. "I just… didn't want things to be really awkward."

"Wonder why things would have been awkward," Harry said sarcastically, turning around.

"No wait," she said, catching his shoulder again. "I thought it might be awkward because… well… I think I still want to see if there could be… something between us."

Harry was stunned into silence. He could tell his jaw was hanging a bit and shut it tight as his brain racked for something to say.

"I know things didn't end well last time, but—well… after seeing you again tonight… I just can't help but wonder," she said. "I suppose… I shouldn't…" Cho didn't finish her sentence, but she didn't move either. "You did really well, by the way."

"Er—thanks," he finally said.

"Sometimes I wonder," Cho said, her cheeks going a pretty pink as she looked down. The next time she looked up, Harry had an odd sensation of déjà vu.

* * *

Ginny raised a butterbeer, which she had managed to get for everyone,in the air. "To our own Hermione Granger! The best damn Sarah Brown Hogwarts has ever seen!"

"Hear, here!" several of the other Gryffindors said in agreement, raising their own bottles, as Hermione gave Ginny a look for her choice of language. Ginny noticed Ron standing in a corner looking on remorsefully.

"And to an equally talented Obediah Masterson!" Ginny shouted, walking over to her blushing brother and pulling him out of the shadows. There were several more cheers as Ginny placed him next to Hermione in the crowd. They both seemed to want to walk away, but Ginny stood between them, an arm around either side of the two. "Finally… we found a use for their ability to argue without loss of energy or breath," Ginny stated, getting a large laugh from the crowd.

Hermione rolled her eyes and nudged Ginny in the ribs with her elbow to take a step away. Ron just looked down trying not to smile. "Maybe they'll learn from their characters and snog to end the disagreements," Seamus shouted amid all the people. Again laughter as Hermione tried to get away.

It didn't matter as Ron started mingling with others and Ginny was left with Hermione. "It must be a family thing, shoving people together," Hermione said.

"Oh, lighten up. I didn't say anything about kissing," Ginny pointed out.

"I'll give you that at least."

"I just hate seeing you two not talking like this," Ginny said. "This is the most miserable I've seen Ron all year," she added. "Besides, I'm in good spirits."

"You should be," Hermione said, finally falling to a friendly pattern. "Has Harry searched you out yet?"

"No," Ginny said, looking down and biting her bottom lip.

"You know," Hermione said. "I haven't seen him either," she said, attempting to look through the crowd of Gryffindors. "Do you think he knows about the party?"

"How could he not?" Ginny asked. "I had Dean going around telling everyone."

"Dean?" Hermione said. "Maybe that wasn't the best idea."

As if what that looked like dawned on Ginny her eyes widened slightly. "You don't think—"

"No," Hermione said. "I'm sure if anything, he's just a bit put out. I'll go see if he's in his room sulking," Hermione said.

"Maybe he went to help Colin, or something," Ginny added. "I think we might need a bit more cake anyway," she added with a smile as she made her way to the portrait hole, passing a couple second years coming in. She squeezed by the two, thanking them for their congratulations, and made it down to the first landing of the stairs before stopping. At the bottom of the staircase she found Harry, Cho leaning into him, their lips against one another.

There was a moment when she did nothing, her heart having dropped down until she could have sworn it had disapperated completely. Cho was the first to notice her presence and pulled away, looking up. It took a moment before Harry turned around. "G-ginny," he said.

Ginny straightened herself and looked him in the eyes. "Hermione was looking for you," she said strongly. "I'll just tell her I found you and your growth, shall I?"

Cho looked incredulous, satisfying Ginnyjust beforeshe turned and walked away. She heard footsteps following and picked up her pace. When she got into the Common Room, she started weaving herself through the crowd, tears starting to sting her eyes. "Ginny!" someone called. Her instinct was that it was Harry, but when her arm was caught, she was surprised that it was Dean Thomas. "We didn't get to toast to you," he said happily before his expression changed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ginny said, feeling her façade starting to crash down. "I have a headache… need some sleep," she said, then pulled away before any other attention could be drawn to her. Just as she approached the girls' staircase, she noticed her brother.

"You okay?" she heard him ask, but just passed him, walking quickly up the steps before she could be stopped again.

With a shaky hand, Ginny opened her dormitory door, thankful that her roommates were all downstairs celebrating with those in audience and cast alike. She ignored the nagging that the party had been her doing… she should be running it, but didn't care as she fell onto her bed and started to cry.

Crying for her stupidity at the thought that Harry might actually be interested… crying for letting down the thick wall that had been there the year before… crying for, once again, being beaten by Cho Chang.

* * *

A/N: Came out sooner than the last chapter ;) I enjoyed writing this one… yes it focuses a bit more on Ginny and Harry again, but it'll be a part of Hermione's and Ron's reconciliation. Should be fun in the next chapter. I think I'll be starting that tonight anyhow… We'll see. Until then… be darlings and REVIEW ;)

Thanks:

Picklegrl: I'm sorry I'm sorry! I got caught up with school, a musical, and winterguard (flag team), which is why before they were coming out in such quick succession... and now, my beta from Checkmated is gone, so I'm just over here for now with updates, but I am trying to finish up before HBP comes out, so I'll be working hard. Again sorry! To you and anyone else that feels I betrayed them ;)

Loralie: My clever moments are few and far between, but I'm glad you enjoyed that, because as arrogent as it may sound, I was really proud of myself for that one hehehe. Yes, I am a dork... and I'm proud of that!

Rupertsgrl479: Awwww thanks! Yes, it is on Checkmated, but I don't have a beta for it at the moment, so I'm prolonging having to deal with someone new over there... especially since it's gotten rather particular, site wise.

Bhekie: Thanks :D

Julesfire: Yes, I give Ron kudos for style :D I particularly like the extra hard slap, though... hope that's kudos enough for him. hehehe.

Emrisah: You know... honestly I don't care for whoever left that review as it's obvious they didn't read it. If they had, they would have seen a lot of the contradictions to what they said. Besides that, if they aren't going to say anything that simply helps me, I ignore it. Of course, I respond to everyone's reviews, or I wouldn't have bothered to write a response to them ;) I'm glad you're enjoying it at the very least. Thanks for the review!

Yami and Hikari Kaiume: I got really busy, if you're wondering what happened with the updates for six months... otherwise, you'll have to read the story to figure that one out ;) Thanks for the review!

Ginny PoshSpice: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I'm working on it the best Ican! Hope you continue to enjoy it.

phredtheflyingmonkey: Thank you! I'm glad you like it, and I'm trying to get chapters out as soon as I can. Promise!

luckyduck8200: Awwww thanks!

Phillippa of the phoenix: I'm glad you like it so much! I did enjoy replacing that word, and I, of course, had to mention it was different from the script for those who haven't seen it a million times (though I must admit that I had to look it up myself... as I don't have the entire thing memorized.)


	9. Big Trouble from Big Brother

Chapter 9- Big Trouble from Big Brother

"Come on Hermione," Ron said. "Tell me what's wrong with Ginny."

Hermione kept to her book as she had for the last half an hour that Ron had been at breakfast. Hermione had spent the entire night before getting it out of Ginny herself and wasn't about to go spreading the information to just anyone… and as she still wasn't speaking to Ron, he didn't count in the mix of important people to inform. She had also noticed Harry's absence at breakfast this morning. She had seen him briefly waiting at the bottom of the staircase, but he went back up to his dorm after he saw Hermione.

"Hermione, she's my little sister and I should know what's wrong!" he demanded.

Hermione looked over the top of her book. "She'll tell you, if you deserve it," she said, her eyes moving back onto the page.

"Look," Ron finally said. "I know it was an awful thing I said, probably the most horrible thing I've ever said to you—"

"Keep groveling," Hermione said with a turn of her page.

Ron took a deep breath. "You're the smartest, most clever witch in our year, which is probably how you got Ginny to tell you what was wrong. Without you, Harry and I—"

"I don't think it was Harry who insulted me."

"Without you _I_ am hopeless and wouldn't know what to do," he said. "Besides that, you're the prettiest girl at this school," he added tentatively.

Hermione's brows furrowed as she looked up, expecting to see him laughing at her reaction. Instead, his face was red and he was combing through his scrambled eggs. "Anything else?" she asked.

Ron looked up at her. "I'm terribly sorry," he said. "I can't even tell you how sorry, but I wish you'd forgive me."

Hermione looked at Ron before letting out a deep breath. "Alright, did you know Harry asked her to Hogsmeade?"

"No," Ron said with obvious surprise. "She's upset about that? Why would she be—"

"I wasn't finished," Hermione said. Ron shut his mouth and leaned forward. "Last night, she went out to get more food and saw Harry kissing Cho."

Ron's ears grew redder than Hermione had seen them in a long time. "After he… he asked her out?"

Hermione nodded.

"But why?"

"I don't know, _and_ don't you go being an idiot and causing a row," Hermione warned.

"What makes you think I'd do that?"

"Because it's just _like_ you to be an idiot and cause a row."

"Damn straight it is! What did he think he was doing? No wonder Ginny's upset!"

"What?" Dean asked as he was passing by. "What happened?"

"Harry was kissing another girl after asking Ginny out!" Ron shouted.

"RON!" Hermione declared.

Lavender and Parvati now seemed highly interested in something other than last night's party and were looking at the three people now discussing this.

"He did what?" Dean asked, brows furrowed. "Why?"

"That's what I want to know," Ron said.

Hermione placed her head in her hands. "Please don't blow this out of proportion," Hermione pleaded. "Please say you'll let them talk this out themselves."

"Talk it out themselves? Have you gone daft?" Dean asked. "Does he know how many people want to date your little sister?" he asked hypothetically.

"What?" Ron asked. "Who?"

"Oh well," Dean said. "That's sort of confiential."

"You do mean people besides you, right?"

"Of course, of course," Dean said.

Hermione cleared her throat. "I have to go study a bit before your parents come, Ron."

"That's it!" Ron said. "I'll tell Mum what he did! Harry won't know what hit him."

"What? A bit of yelling isn't—" Dean started.

"You haven't ever heard my mum yell," Ron clarified.

"Don't you dare get your mother involved," Hermione said. "There's no reason to get her all upset over nothing."

"Nothing?" Ron asked. "This is nothing? I mean, it's one thing when he didn't ask Ginny out before going to snog Cho under the mistletoe, but this just isn't right."

"Look," Hermione said, standing as Ron did and walking on the other side of the table that Ron and Dean were walking together towards the exit of the Great Hall. "I didn't tell you what Ginny told me so you could have a go at Harry about it. Just let _them_ solve it!"

They were approaching the table and Hermione tried to head them off. "Nothing good can come from you getting into a fight with him," Hermione warned, standing in front of Ron, his lanky frame towering her, though she didn't look as though she really cared.

"I won't rough him up too bad," Ron promised, then leaned down and kissed Hermione on the lips. "I'll see you at lunch."

Standing wide eyed in the same place, Hermione didn't know quite what to do. By the time she turned around Ron and Dean were already gone. "NO!" she shouted and made an attempt to catch up to them as a large group of Hufflepuff got a head of her at the door.

* * *

"What were you thinking?" Ron asked as he entered the dormitory, Dean on his heels.

"What?" Harry asked from his bed. He had been laying there looking up at the ceiling until now, wondering about when he should go down to breakfast. Certainly Hermione would still be there and her chances of knowing were quite great.

"What in bloody hell were you doing, asking my sister out then kissing Cho?" Ron demanded, taking a step forward.

"You're nuts, you know," Dean added in. "Half the guys in this school would give their right arm for a date, and you blew it!"

"Really that bad, eh?" Ron asked Dean with a bit of surprise. Dean nodded.

"She told both of you?" Harry asked. He didn't even imagine Ginny would tell Ron.

"Hermione told us," Dean said.

"Me," Ron said, "Dean overheard."

"Why did you do it?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Harry answered. "I don't even… think… I did, you know?"

"All I know is my little sister has been in her room since last night crying because of you."

Harry guilt increased as he thought about it. "She came up to me," he said. "Cho just… leaned in… I didn't do anything."

"You expect me to believe that?" Ron asked.

"Yes, Ron, I do," Harry said back, standing up.

"Wow, that's convincing," Dean said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let's just go back and tell everyone that we were wrong about Harry and his slobber-fest with Cho."

"Look, you don't understand," Harry said angrily, taking a step towards the door.

Ron caught Harry by the shoulders, pushing him back. "Leave me alone!" Harry shouted as he started for the door again, this time Dean helping Ron in stopping him.

"Not until you tell me why you did it!" Ron demanded.

"I TOLD YOU!" Harry yelled, his face becoming red. "I DIDN'T KNOW THAT CHO WAS GOING TO KISS ME! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW SHE WOULD TALK TO ME!"

"You promise?" Ron asked, still sounding skeptical.

"Yes!" Harry said, sitting back on the bed. "I… I didn't know what to do… then Ginny came and walked off before I could explain myself."

Dean and Ron looked at each other. "What are you planning on doing about Ginny, then?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Harry said with obvious frustration. "She won't talk to me! She hasn't even come down from her room. When she did, she walked straight past me without even a second glance."

Ron nodded. "It's been a while since she's been like this."

"What do I do?" Harry asked. "I can't explain if she won't talk to me."

"Well… usually when a girl is mad at me, I start with flowers," Dean said.

"What are her favorite?" Harry asked, looking at Ron with a bit of determination.

"How should I know?" Ron retorted with a lift of his lip. "Like I would get her flowers."

"Snapdragons," Dean said. Both of them looked at Dean. "I told her she was overreacting once… she threw her pumpkin juice on me."

The other two nodded with understanding. "So get her some flowers… how do I get them to her?"

"Let's think… when's a perfect opportunity when Ginny has no choice but to see you," Ron said. "Earth to Harry… come on, it's not that hard."

"I can go to the girls' dressing room before the show," he said.

"Thank you," Ron said. "What are you going to say?"

"If he couldn't figure out when to give her flowers, what makes you think he can figure out this one," Dean said.

"Hey!"

"Sorry Harry."

"You need to get her attention," Ron said, thinking. "Say something that makes her curious enough to listen."

"Yeah… yeah, that's good," Harry said, standing a pacing back and forth. "But what?"

"Tell her you've got six months to live," Dean said.

"Not helping." Harry took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. With a sigh, Harry ran his hand through his untidy mess of hair. "I'll figure that out," he said. "Ron, do you know of anywhere I can get flowers?"

"I can ask Mum when she gets here," he said.

"Okay," Harry said. "Just let me know and I'll send Hedwig for them."

"Looks like you two have this under control," Dean said. He looked at his watch. "As for me, I have a date with Parvati," he said. "Good luck, Harry," he added as he turned to go.

Harry took a deep breath, then jumped. "There's something I have to tell you!" he said. "Last night, as I was leaving, Draco was talking to his band of idiots." Harry continued to explain exactly what he'd heard.

"What do you think he's got in mind?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Harry said.

"Lucius is coming just for it, though?" Ron asked. Harry nodded. "Bet he's going to do something to Hermione," he said.

"I think he'd be smarter than to try getting the better of her, especially in front of a bunch of teachers."

"What about when she's onstage?" Ron asked. "He might make it look like an accident."

Harry thought about this. "Well… when she's onstage, we'll just have to make sure we're in the wings."

"Yeah," Ron said. "We can see if Dean will help," he added.

Harry nodded. "We'll get as many Gryffindors in it as possible."

"Let's just not let Hermione," Ron said. "I don't know if she'll like it, and right now I think it's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission."

"Right," Harry said. "When's your mum coming?"

"She should be here in an hour or two," Ron said. "Dad will be here too."

"Okay," Harry said. "I'm starving, let's get something to eat."

Ron didn't argue as he followed Harry out of the dorms and down the stairs.

* * *

"Oh goodness, it's wonderful to see all of you!" Molly said as she pulled each of her children into her. "Harry, dear, you're looking well," she said with a pat on his cheek. "I heard you did wonderfully last night," she added.

Harry gave a half-hearted smile. "Thanks," he said. "Who told you?" he asked.

"Ginny wrote," she said. Harry felt like he had cheated Ginny further as she avoided his eye contact. "And she told me that you, Hermione, stole the show," Molly told the other girl in the area with a hug.

"Ginny's become quite the fibber," Hermione responded mid-hug.

"Are your parents coming?" Arthur asked with excitement.

"No," Hermione said. "McGonagall said it would be too difficult, but that's okay."

"Too bad," Arthur said. "I was quite looking forward to seeing them again."

"Why don't we show your father the grounds, Ron," Molly said. "He hasn't been here for some time now," she added, linking her arm in his.

"I have to go study, Mum," Ginny excused herself. "I'll see you after the show," she added, kissing Molly on the cheek and giving Arthur a hug.

"I've … got to go grab something," Harry said as Ginny walked away. "I'll catch up to you guys."

He ran to catch up to Ginny, who had just turned a corner. "Ginny!" he called out.

She turned for a moment, but continued walking.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you," Harry said, trying to get her arm.

Ginny pulled it from him. "Don't bother, please," she said, picking up her pace. "You know… I didn't force you into asking me out."

"I know that," Harry said, matching Ginny's step, walking along side her. "You have to understand… I didn't mean for that to happen."

"What did you mean, then?" Ginny asked, walking up a staircase. "Just a peck before coming up to tell me when to meet you next week?"

"No, it's not like that," he said, stepping in front of Ginny to stop her. "Please, just listen."

"I don't have time," Ginny said, again avoiding his eyes as Harry saw tears in her own. "Goodbye, Harry," she added, side stepping him and jumping on a moving staircase before he could do anything else.

* * *

A/N: Chapter 9 done! Just to clarify, Cho wasn't really being the bad guy in this… it was just a situation that really sucks. I don't know what she would have done if she had known Harry had already asked Ginny on a date, but I needed something to stir things up :D I don't particularly like the way Cho is most of the time, but I thought I'd say that in her defense. PLEASE REVIEW! (much thanks if you do).

Thanks:

Lynsey: Seems everyone has a connection to Guys and Dolls! hehehe Good musical... not my fav, but wonderful none the less. Very entertaining.

MsMissProngs: Yes, definitely sucks for Ginny, but sometimes things like this happen!

Marauders babe: I'm trying to get them out there in looks at watch 9 days! chapter 10 is almost done... so I'll be posting that tomorrow or Friday.

neespence: I'm glad you're enjoying it! I didn't just want the characters to becoming the characters they're playing or get stuck as them or whatever it is most people do... but I definitely wanted to utilize the potential of a school play.

Phillipa of the Phoenix: ding ding ding! Exactly! Well... I'm not sure how many more chapters, as the next two will include quite a bit of action... but once the action is over, that should be about it.

Withered Quill: hehehe yup... as you see in this chapter something's finally giving with RHr, but Harry still has some esplainin' to do (thank you Ricky Ricardo). Keep in mind, Cho didn't know he had asked someone else out, though it might have been wise for her to pay attention or find that out or something. Still... she's not entirely to blame... the scenario just sucks!

Hogibear92: Oh thanks! It's definitely coming, but this isn't it... a couple more plot dealios before finishing it up... gonna try and wrap it up by the 15th, however.

Julesfire: now 9 days! and yes... Harry has to answer to her now (though you now know exactly what happened from his side of things)

Mrs. Norris II: Get it at the movie store... Frank Sinatra plays Nathan in it. Good stuff, let me tell you. And no, I didn't abandon it... I just lost all ability to do what I wanted with my time.

Tria Marie Val: lol don't worry... I had to have something of excitement happen, didn't I? Keep in mind, Cho wasn't trying to break anything up... she had no idea Harry had asked Ginny out... as far as she knows, he still likes her (as he did at the beginning of this fic)

Rupertsgrl479: Mugglenet was always a bit stringent... but then again, their forte isn't fanfiction... still, Checkmated is just overboard. Thanks for your review! It's appriciated.

CountessMel: That's such a cool part you had! Hard musical to not have a few underclassmen have major roles in. Especially since characters like Mary have to be shorter/look 10ish. and it's cool about the vaca thing... so understandable. :D When it comes to Ginny being 'foxy' I don't see her as foxy as playing a role (most of the time) of a 'foxy' character, and my attempt is to bring out more of OoTP!Ginny where she's a little more daring and willing to be funny, like Fred and George. On top of this, I thought I'd add an explaination in response to your review on Grounded...  
I think that Ginny might very well talk boys with Hermione at that age ( I think too often we forget how young we were when we started talking about dating and what not... and I don't think the things she said are even really 'sexual' as much as concerning boys). I based what Ginny would know on what Ron seemed to know, and continued on the rumor that Fred and George had told Ron about having to wrestle a troll to be sorted.

bhekie: I know, I know... but she didn't ;) It just really sucks for everyone, really... although I think Cho should be more decisive (which is something that I feel was a big part of why things didn't work out between Harry and her during OoTP.

dancerrdw: I think we all have some sympathy for Ginny... poor dear.


	10. Final Bows

Chapter 10- Final Bows

Harry knocked on the door of the girls' dressing room almost half an hour before the start of the show. A girl, younger… perhaps in her third year, answered the door. "Yes?" she asked snippily. "Can I help you?"

"I was wondering if I could see Ginny," he said. After finding out Lavender and Parvati had been around when Ron and Dean found out about what had happened, Harry had expected this kind of behavior from others.

"There's people getting dressed," she said. "You'll have to catch her in the wings."

"Wait," Harry said as the door started to shut on him. "Can you at least give these to her?" He held out a bouquet with snapdragons in the center, surrounded by an assortment of wild flowers.

The girl looked as though she were struggling between a female bond against cheating boys, and cooing over the gesture of the flowers. "Oh, all right then," she said, taking the flowers and shutting the door.

Harry let out a breath and walked back to where all the guys were getting on makeup. "Never again… never ever again," Seamus said as one of the girls applied foundation on his face.

"Nice act," Dean said. "I've seen you use it before."

"Not funny," Seamus said. "How would you like it if I started some rumor about you? How about a bad night time problem you never got over?"

"Fine, truce," Seamus said. "Anyone seen our Slytherin co-cast?" he added with a bit of distaste.

Harry looked around, realizing none of them had made call time. "No," he said.

"Good," Seamus said. "Ron told us what you heard last night, and we're all going to be on guard… we should probably pay attention to any Muggleborns."

"It's so nice to know that you care," Dean said sappily, walking over to Harry. In a whisper, he asked, "did you give them to her?"

"They wouldn't let me in, so I left them with the girl who answered the door. Shouldn't I have?"

"No," Dean said. "Please say you at least included a card of some sort… any…"

"Er—"

"Harry! I can't believe you!" Dean exclaimed.

"Where's Ron," Harry mumbled while looking down, feeling as though he had failed again.

"I'm over here," Ron said as he opened the door.

"Where have you been?" Harry asked.

"I was with…" Ron paused, going red. "I was with my parents."

"McGonagall took them to The Great Hall over an hour ago," Harry pointed out. Ron's only response was a mumble as he started to apply his own stage makeup.

* * *

In the girls' dressing room there was a mixture of responses to one bouquet of flowers. "You're certainly going to forgive him, aren't you?" the girl who had delivered them asked.

"I certainly am not," Ginny said, her red tresses up in curlers as she continued her attempts to ignore the floral arrangement being handed around.

"Did he leave a note with it?" Lavendar asked.

"I have no idea."

"Doesn't look like it," Parvati said. "You're right to make him pay, though. Give it another week and he'll be wrapped around your little finger."

Ginny didn't even dignify this with a response. The hurt and disappointment she felt right now went far beyond revenge and silly games. She didn't even know how she was going to handle being onstage with Harry all night, let alone look him in the eyes with any of the esteem she once held for him.

Hermione came in out of breath and a bit pink in the cheeks. "Sorry I'm late everyone," she said with a smile. "Can you help me with the twist today Padma?" she asked, sitting in a chair and attempting to get a brush through her hair.

"Oooo… can I put in some highlights?" Parvati said, wide-eyed.

"No, thank you," Hermione said as politely as she could manage. "It'll take long enough to get it done."

Padma, who was letting her own hair dry still, started combing through Hermione's mess of tangles, spraying some water to tame the waves. "Did you see the flowers Harry got for Ginny?"

"I wish you would all stop talking about it," Ginny said as Hermione looked over with a raised eyebrow.

"Why?" Hermione asked, looking at the flowers that had been shoved under her nose by Hattie Fuller. "They're lovely."

"Yes, but only given out of a guilty conscience," Ginny protested.

"That's one of the few reasons _any_ girl gets flowers, Ginny," Hermione told her younger friend. "Ron told me Harry didn't mean for that to happen."

"No, I'm sure he didn't," Ginny said as she applied some blush. "I'm sure Harry would have much preferred me to stay in the common room so he could have continued on in private."

"I'm sure that's not what he meant," Hermione said.

"What happened then?" Ginny asked, looking over at Hermione with a dare to contradict her.

"I didn't get the full details, but considering your brother's calm about it—"

"Harry's his best friend," Ginny responded, looking back to the mirror. "I'm sure it wouldn't take much convincing."

Hermione let out a sigh. "You can't keep doing this… not talking to him… staying up in your room. Either way, you're going to have to face him."

Ginny didn't respond, but gave Hermione a glare before turning her attention once again to her make-up. Without a pause once she was ready, Ginny opened her book and started to read through a chapter on swelling solutions.

* * *

Harry stayed in the wings, his attention torn between looking out for anything Malfoy may be planning and waiting for Ginny to come out. It wasn't until he was on the stage, though, that he saw Ginny for the first time. Distracted, he delivered his lines, waiting for Ginny to come on. Their scene went as it normally did and Harry got the feeling from such that things would be fine offstage. Such was not the case, which became apparent the moment Ginny made her exit. Harry saw her pick up speed in her step. He did the same, but wasn't close enough as she shut the door to the girls' dressing room.

Harry kicked the nearest wall and limped over to his own post where he was watching for any mischief going on.

* * *

"I can't believe he hasn't done anything," Dean whispered to Harry towards the end of the final as they had just left the stage.

"Maybe he's noticed us," Ron responded. "Either way, at least Hermione's safe."

"Yeah," Harry said. They all shuffled onstage where the set was that of the diner. They went through their lines, Harry trying to concentrate on what was going on, but the fact that nothing had happened yet was bothering him. He knew something was planned… and Lucius would see it… so that meant it was going to be done in front of the audience. Maybe Malfoy was waiting until they were caught off-guard. Maybe he had chickened out, knowing he would be doing it in front of everyone else. Maybe he was waiting until curtain call. Hermione was in the dressing room at the moment, and Harry didn't see how Malfoy could get her there or why he would. There was still the fact that his father was there to see whatever he was planning.

He almost missed a cue with his thoughts running about, but managed to recover. Things continued on as normal as Ginny entered acting more like how she was offstage, as her character was equally upset with his as Ginny was with Harry.

Harry had never felt himself have a better performance in the entirety of the last few months of rehearsals. "But Adelaide," he said.

Ginny started to sing.

_You gamble it here,  
You gamble it there,  
You gamble on everything, all except me  
And I'm sick of you keeping me up in the air 'till you're back in the money again _

As she was giving her own lyrics and melody, Harry interjected when necessary, but he noticed something in the wings. Draco Malfoy… standing smug off stage right. Harry knew he had never stood there before. All of the men came on from the back of the set for the next scene.

**Call a lawyer and sue me,  
****Sue me,  
What can you do me?  
****I love you…**

Harry thought as he sung. He thought of his staging… and then Ginny's…

**Give a holler and hate me,  
Hate me,  
Go on and hate me,  
I love you!**

At the end of the number he would move back, away from Ginny as she stood in the middle of the stage.

_You're at it again,  
__You're running the game.._

He had to do something… the song was going to end and he didn't have his wand with him. Even if he did, he couldn't attract attention like that. He looked up towards the catwalk. The light that would give Ginny her pool of light looked like it was waving a bit… Draco had his wand pointed at it.

**Sue me, sue me,**

Harry walked up to Ginny, grabbing her hands and pulled Ginny towards him, close to his exit.

**Shoot bullets through me**

Ginny followed, looking confused, and when they paused, she attempted to—in character—go to her flood of light, but Harry held her there.

**I love you!**

Ginny tried even more to pull away as Harry finished the song. In a moment of desperate impulse Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, dipped Ginny down so that she had no option but to put her arms around his neck to keep fromfallingand kissed her as the applause erupted.

Harry could hear the stage manager telling someone to change lights to be over them. He waited for the crash of the light in the middle of the stage, but it never happened. Was he wrong? Either way, when the stage blacked out, Harry lifted Ginny, who pushed him away and stormed off the stage. He ran up to her, cutting her off in her path.

"How dare you?" she whispered.

Harry looked over to the other side of the stage… Draco was gone. "Draco was going to drop a light—"

"Was?" Ginny said. "Does that mean you have to kiss me when it wasn't a part of the staging?"

"I was trying to—" Harry looked down at his feet as he heard the lines being given onstage. He was supposed to be ready to enter, but he had to clear this up. "Ginny… I didn't mean what happened with Cho last night."

Ginny's jaw tensed as she looked away. "I… I didn't know she'd come up to me."

"The thing is Harry," Ginny said suddenly, "I'm used to having things second hand. That goes along with being a Weasley… besides, I've dated others myself. But being an only girl, I'm not used to sharing. I'm not about to start with something like this either."

"Harry? Where's Harry?" he heard Ron calling from the back of the stage.

"You need to get on," Ginny said after taking a breath and calming her tone. "Break a leg," she said, then walked off.

Harry's brows furrowed as he walked onto the stage for one of the final scenes.

* * *

"That was magnificent!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, pulling each into a hug and handing out some home-grown flowers or chocolate treats to each one of her "Gryffindor players", as she had taken to calling them. "I didn't know you could sing so lovely, Harry," she said, handing him some chocolate. "And Ron," she said, standing on her tiptoes to give her youngest son a hug. "You've made us proud."

"Thanks Mum," he mumbled through a bite of his own food.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley, these are lovely," Hermione said, taking in the scent of her lavender and daisy bouquet.

"It was my pleasure, dear," she said with a smile. "Now I do believe Dumbledore was holding an after event?"

"Madame Rosmerta was going to bring some butterbeer and such for the families and cast members," Ginny said. "Tomorrow Hannah's throwing us a cast party of her own."

"That sounds lovely. I did want to tell her she did a wonderful job on producing it. I had always thought of doing a play myself, but the opportunity never arose." Molly started ahead.

Harry took a deep breath, then a chunk out of his chocolate before starting to walk. He felt a tug on his arm. "I wanted to thank you for getting Ginny away," Arthur whispered. "I was quite concerned for a moment there."

"Y-you saw that sir?" Harry asked.

Arthur nodded. "I thought it odd that Lucius would have come. He looked all too giddy when that scene was coming up. I told Molly that I had to go to the loo and went around to the back of the stage. Very Muggle-like, they made it."

"It wasn't for much anyway… it never actually dropped."

"Yeah," Arthur said. "I was able to get there just before he had fully loosened it. Good thing too… Muggle ekeltricy can be quite dangerous. I wasn't sure if Dumbledore made it truly authentic or not, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Harry nodded.

"So Ginny's in a bit of row with you then?" Arthur asked, his eyebrow raised.

Harry felt horrorstruck. "I… how did you…"

"I had a disillusionment on me," he explained. "Heard the whole thing. Not quite sure what it meant, but I heard. Ginny's always had a bit of a temperament… I'd just write her a note, if I were you," he said with a wink. "We better head off before all the butterbeer is gone. I haven't had Madame Rosmerta's in… well… nevermind how long."

Harry smiled as he and Mr. Weasley made to catch up with the group.

* * *

Sunday morning, Harry headed to the owlry. He couldn't use Hedwig… she might just toss the note aside. Stealth was Harry's best bet, and he knew it too. He had already written a request… hoping she might go along with it.

_Dear Ginny,_

_I want to explain everything to you, whether you forgive me or not. Please meet me by the lake after the cast party._

_Harry_

He figured it was sufficient… it didn't look as though he were doing it for himself and it still got the point that he wanted to meet with her across the page. Hopefully she would accept the invintation.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter finished! I have a funny story… After writing the last chapter I kept getting reviews about how all ya'lls favorite part consisted of Ron kissing Hermione. Every time I got one I was like "when did he kiss her? I don't remember him kissing her? I didn't write that!" Finally, I went through and started to read it, finally catching onto what part that was! Hehehe so after that I shook my had and laughed, remembering why I put that in: Hermione couldn't go with them and had to get behind a bit… so something had to shock her into the same place long enough for them to get ahead. Hence, Ron kissing Hermione.

Funny how you can write something and completely forget you've done so… I wonder if it happens to Rowling.

Please read and review! You might jog my memory on something I wrote ;)

Thanks:

Phillipa of the Phoenix: I love Mrs. Weasley... she always cracks me up... so does Mr. Weasley... and I couldn't stop laughing when I was writing for Dean and Ron... hehehe they were just really funny when they were teamed up like that!

angelface58: Gaurd member! YAY! Actually, our winterguard season is all done now... finished up in April. We didn't do too poorly... made it to semi-finals at WGI. We were proud for that. I'm glad you like this story and I'm sorry to say, it will be open ended. I don't usually do epilogues and the point of the story is how they get together... not really how they act when they're finally dating... that would just get redundant. Still, I know sort of what you mean. Think about it this way: I'm letting your imagination dictate what happens after this ;) Thanks again for the review.

Tria Marie Val: lol perhaps a bit... but it really does just suck for him too, seeing as he was kind of thrown into a situation he didn't know how to react to, or couldn't react to before he was already seen by Ginny. So I still have a bit of sympathy for him.

Phoenixwings13: See ... ya'll blame Cho like she's trying to break them up on purpose hehehe. Although I do think she needed to be more decisive sooner if she wanted that...

Lynsey: You know... someone thought it was dumb to have him being good at acting... but I think he's got to be good at something, and I found the idea that the one thing he's really good at being artsy kind of a funny idea... considering it's Ron.

Rupertsgrl479: hehehe I liked Ron's move too... once I remembered that it was there. I'm glad you like this, and I particularly enjoyed adding Dean into that chapter.

dancerrdw: I'm trying to finish! I think I'll have it done by Monday or Teusday! (depending if I can manage to cram everything into one chapter of if I have to expand it to two.)

JulesFire: yes... yes it was... I don't think he realized he even did it... until maybe the next time he saw her. I enjoyed writing it too ;)

MsMissProngs: definitely, definitely. I'm glad you're getting into this story though!


	11. Doing it for some Doll

Chapter 11- Doing it for some Doll

Ginny woke up late, which she was grateful for. After seeing her mum and dad off, Ginny had come back to an unofficial slumber party between her dorm mates. She decided to join in, none of them going to sleep until just before the sun was to rise. Still tired, Ginny started getting dressed, not wanting to miss breakfast.

As she went to a mirror, she noticed on the counter space a folded piece of parchment. An owl, which seemed to have been resting on top of the mirror, swooped down to pick it back up and landed on Ginny's shoulder. "For me?" she wondered aloud, taking it. The owl left before Ginny could even go to her drawers and get out some sort of treat for it.

She wondered how long the owl had been waiting as she opened the paper. She frowned as she saw the handwriting, but having it right in front of her, Ginny couldn't avoid the intrigue of reading it.

_Dear Ginny,_

_I want to explain everything to you, whether you forgive me or not. Please meet me by the lake 1 hour before the cast party._

_Harry_

Ginny bit her bottom lip and stuffed the parchment into her pocket before heading out the door to get some breakfast.

As she approached the Great Hall, Ginny was glad to see that Harry wasn't there, but Hermione still lingered. "Morning," she said, sitting across from her. "Where's Ron?"

"Harry and him went out to fly for a bit," Hermione said.

Ginny gave a quiet 'oh' in response, but didn't do much other than pick up a piece of toast and take a bite out of it.

"When are you going to talk to him?" Hermione asked directly. "This really is getting ridiculous."

Somewhere in Ginny's mind, she knew that. "Well… he sent me a note to meet him before the cast party… wanted to explain some things," Ginny said, taking it out and showing it to Hermione.

"And you're going?"

"I hadn't decided," Ginny said, concentrating on her orange juice. "I mean… after last night…"

"I'm sure he'll explain last night as well," Hermione said. "Think about it, Harry was nervous enough being out on the stage without changing what he was told to do on top of it all. There had to be a reason for that."

Ginny nodded. As much as she hated to admit it, Hermione was right. Harry did everything exact to script the best he could… and even then he was jittery about being out there. "Fine I'll go," Ginny said, watching Hermione smile, "but it doesn't mean things are going to be fine after this," she added.

* * *

Harry and Ron came back from the pitch with just enough time to change and head to an unused classroom that was being used for their cast party. "I thought you were meeting Ginny," Hermione said as they passed her in the common room. 

"Why would I be meeting Ginny?" Ron asked.

"Not you, him," she said, pointing at Harry.

"Er—not until after the cast party."

"Your note said _before_," Hermione said.

"You read it?"

"Ginny showed it to me," Hermione said.

"I put after," Harry said. "I swear I did," he added, the conviction in his tone wavering. He had, hadn't he? Or was this another mistake that would push Ginny further.

"Well, it didn't say that," Hermione said.

"Maybe you can still catch her," Ron interjected.

"Ginny left for the lake an hour ago," Hermione said. "By now, she's given up completely. Don't worry, I'll talk to her about it," she said, then left for the portrait hole.

There was a sense of unease in Harry as he looked around the room of people enjoying refreshments and talking. Colin had made his way around the group, handing pictures out that he had taken throughout the course of the show. "Here, Harry, these are for you," he said.

On the top was a picture of him trying to learn a couple dance steps from Ginny. His jaw tensed as he watched Ginny laugh while he was making an idiot of himself. He remembered this too well.

"Have you seen Ginny around anywhere?" Colin asked. "I have some for her too, but I can't find her anywhere."

"She isn't here?" Harry asked. He had figured she was avoiding him—which Ginny had become fairly sufficient at doing—and Harry wasn't going to seek her out until Hermione came back, telling him whether or not his hide was saved.

"I haven't seen her at least," Colin said. "If you see her, just tell her I have pictures for her."

"Yeah… sure," Harry said then directed his attentions at finding Ginny, or Hermione for that matter. He found the later first. "Have you talked to Ginny yet?"

"No, she hasn't shown up yet," Hermione said.

"But it's almost over," Harry said. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Hermione responded. "She was supposed to bring some butter beer, and Ginny wouldn't have flaked just because of you."

Harry looked around the room, hoping to see a glimpse of bright brown eyes somewhere in the crowd, but before he could find anything, he noticed some Slytherins laughing in their own little group, a couple that had been a part of the production missing.

Harry didn't even notice he was staring at them until Draco talked to him. "Where's your little red head, Potter?"

"I don't know what you mean," he said, turning.

"I'll send those greetings to her, then," Draco said from behind him.

Harry froze.

"She's just _dying_ to hear from you… anything else you'd like to say?"

Harry turned around, his face turning as red as it possibly could. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Draco stepped out from the group, Blaise laughing behind him and Goyle standing there as well. Harry noted that Crabbe didn't flank his other side. "Is it supposed to mean anything?" Draco added with an air of mocking. "Or is it just… your imagination."

Harry grabbed Draco by the collar of his robes, several girls gasping as he did so. "Careful, Potter… wouldn't want to cause a scene, would you?"

Harry's jaw tensed as he dropped Malfoy and walked towards the exit, his confidence to how he'd penned that note coming back.

* * *

Ginny woke up on the floor of a very damp room. Her hair was a bit wet and she pushed herself up, examining the room. When she went to meet Harry, she had been nervous about what he would say, though it never got to the point of actually listening to Harry. Instead, Draco and his idiotic band came around, patronizing her. She wondered where Harry had been, but was too busy trying to push them away to truly consider it. 

"Using his own words against him," Ginny heard a voice from outside the door on the other end of the room. She felt for her wand, but it wasn't there. Thinking back she remembered how someone summoned it before even coming out in the open. "All Draco had to do was get to the owl… good thing he wasn't using his own."

Ginny rubbed her head and listened. The voice sounded familiar, and she started putting everything together. They had used one of Harry's own notes… let it read how they wanted to… the owl left before getting its due rewards, it must have been under instructions for that. Maybe Harry wasn't going to meet her at all. Oh, she felt like such an idiot.

With a deep breath, Ginny stood up, her head pounding. Without a second though, Ginny searched through her pockets for a Migraine Delight and ate the purple end, chucking the other since it was useless to her. The headache started subsiding as she thought of how well Fred and George would do in Mungo's, searching for cures.

As she looked around the room, she noticed there were no windows, and seeing how it was rather cold, Ginny figured she was in a lower level of sorts.

"She's waking up," one voice said from outside the door. She noticed the bars that allowed a person to look through.

"I've been awake, you sniveling excuses for wizards!" she shouted. The voice was familiar now, and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. "You toe rags better let me out of here before I—"

"You don't have your wand," Crabbe said. "It's not like you can do anything to us."

"Let … me… out," she warned. Walking up to the door and hitting it as hard as she could.

They laughed at her. Ginny couldn't stand being laughed at. She looked around, knowing there was always a way out. The stone seemed solid, but she figured there might be something, and spent several minutes feeling around the walls trying to get out.

"Will your brother miss you, Weasley?" Millicent Bulstrode asked. "What about your parents… one less mouth to feed… I suppose they'll have a party."

Ginny could feel her face going red in anger and tried to calm herself instead of slamming her fist into a stone wall, which certainly wouldn't help the situation. Finally, as the other two continued to make snide comments, Ginny felt in her pockets for anything, the only help she could find being a pack of ice mice and a box with the words 'Skive away from your worries' on the back. She opened it up, wondering which pill was what.

Finally she picked one up, snapped off the first half and swallowed it, stuffing the everything else into her pocket, unsure what would happen. Her answer was given moments later as she felt something rising in her throat.

Turning to her right, Ginny started to throw up all over the floor. "Gross," Millicent squealed. "Stop that!"

"I… can't," Ginny said before vomiting some more. "I think I ate something bad," she added before another convulsion.

"Oh no," she could hear Crabbe said as the locks on the door creaked open.

As he was still working on that, Ginny swallowed the other half, careful to continue making gagging sounds.

"We have to take her to the nurse—"

"But Malfoy—" Millicent started to argue until she saw Ginny kneeling on the ground with a mess in front of her.

"He's not the one that will be in the worst trouble," Crabbe pointed out. "Besides, maybe we can get some points this way."

"Just make sure you wipe her memory," Millicent said.

"You do it… I don't know how," he argued.

Millicent walked up to Ginny, pointing her wand down towards her. Ginny placed her hands firmly on the stone floor and kicked as hard as she could, knocking Millicent off her feet, hearing a loud 'thud' when her head hit the ground. Ginny took Millicent's wand and pointed it at Goyle. "_Expeliaramus_," she shouted, his wand shooting out.

As he was reaching in his robes for another, Ginny summoned what he was going for, only to have her wand in hand again. With a smile of success, Ginny cast one last spell… her specialty.

* * *

Harry had gone up to his dormitory to get the invisibility cloak before making his way to where he knew the Slytherin Common Room was. Draco had done something with Ginny, and he could find out if someone was coming by with the password. 

So far everything had worked as he stood quietly in a corner of the room, waiting to hear something from someone about Ginny. Something Harry hadn't noted before, though, is that Slytherins always seemed to be talking in hushed tones. Malfoy could be out of the ordinary at times, seeing as he'd run his mouth off to anyone, but no one—if they did know anything—spoke loud enough for Harry to hear.

He was about to go around into the dormitories himself when he noticed someone entering on the other side of the room in shadows. If everyone else hadn't been so involved in their individual conversations, Harry was certain they would have seen too, and he hurried before anyone did.

Harry walked quietly along the edges of the walls, careful not to knock into anything, just about meeting up to Ginny halfway through.

She was being stealthy, watching as everyone talked, holding her breath. Harry did the same as he lifted the cloak slightly and grabbed Ginny by the arm to pull her under, covering her mouth to muffle any kind of scream. "It's me," he whispered in her ear.

Ginny seemed to let out her breath. "You didn't have to scare me half to death," she mentioned. "How do we get out of here?"

"This way," he said, taking her hand in his while leading the way to the exit. He noticed that she didn't pull out of his grasp.

The two of them walked along silently until they arrived at the entrance hall. Harry pulled off the cloak after making certain no one else would see. "You okay?" he finally asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"What happened?"

"Well I went to meet you and—"

"I thought I had written after the party," he interjected, wanting to make perfectly clear that he hadn't stood her up.

"I know… they changed it," she said. Ginny looked down. "At least, I figured that's what they were talking about. I tried to get away but there were too many… they had my wand and Malfoy forced some potion into my mouth."

"We have to go tell McGonagall," Harry said, taking a step towards the stairs in fury.

Ginny grabbed him by the wrist. "Don't worry about it, I'll figure out a way to get him back."

Harry looked down at her hand and Ginny let go. "Can we talk?" he asked.

"You can," Ginny replied. "I've said anything I've had to."

Harry gulped and nodded. He started from the beginning, explaining everything… how he was upset when Cho quit… how he started to realize he liked her instead… even explaining how he felt when Dean was spending so much time with her. Then he went on to explain what happened the night he kissed Cho, what he went through with Ron, and why he had to keep her from her spot the night before.

"I still want to take you to Hogsmeade," Harry finished. "If you'll go."

Ginny looked at him with a look of serious contemplation. "So I was right? You were under the cloak with Ron?"

Ashamed, Harry looked down at his feet and nodded.

Ginny started to laugh. As Harry looked up, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Fine then… I'll go with you," she said.

With a large smile Harry pulled away, taking Ginny's hand in his and leading her towards the Gryffindor tower.

"About bloody time," Ron said when they entered the common room holding hands.

* * *

A/N: YAY! I finished it before the Book 6 release! That makes me happy :D I hope you all like how this ended, even if writing action isn't my forte. Please review before this goes into the catacombs of fanfiction! Oh... and in case any of you thought the idea of her kissing Harry after vommiting was gross, before getting to the common room, Ginny was able to find a bathroom and rincer mouth out and have some ice mice to make it better... just a thought I had which I thought might clear some stuff up for everyone. 

Phillippa of the Phoenix: Oh, she would listen eventually… but I would be a bit obstinate too, if I had just had my heart trampled on by said love-sick hero… Thanks for all the reviews here!

MrsNorisII: No, not quite the end… but the explanation is really in the scenario as a whole: The Weasleys are coming to watch their kids perform… what a better way to entertain yourself than to watch them worry about their only daughter who has had a light fall on her head… on top of which, being something like this, it would look like a complete accident, unless someone watched him, and even then there wouldn't really be a way to prove Draco had done it. So yeah… that's the reasoning… if you wanna know why they targeted her after, it's probably because Draco was in a foul mood at not having accomplished the light thing before.

MsMissProngs: Thank you! One thing I've got to say is that you never _never_ try and kiss a girl when she's already mad at you… hence why in the last chapter, everything just kept getting worse for poor Harry. At least she knows now what it was that happened!

Bhekie: I think Ginny has right here to be a bit stubborn…. Though she is a bit better at holding a grudge than most. Still, in the end she listens to reason.

Dancerrdw: Thanks! I'm glad you've enjoyed!

Lynsey: Thank you! I liked the idea playing in my head… I found it a funny thought! Thanks again for your review :D


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